Star Trek Dribbles and Drabs
by Starsinger
Summary: Various little stories involving the Star Trek Universe. Suggested by Lady Cooper. There's a hot debate going on in the Academy's cafeteria between Communications track students, and several of the top Xenolinguistics experts are in on it, including Spock, Uhura and Kirk.
1. Engineering

**Engineering**

by Starsinger

**These are a series of short stories involving various members in the rebooted universe. I'm inviting people to participate by giving me ideas for continuing this story. My rules will be at the bottom of this short.**

"Engineering to the Bridge," Scotty called, he sounded like he was exhausted. Kirk wasn't surprised. Today seemed to be the day for Murphy's Law to kick in. It wasn't the big things that were happening, it was little things. The warp core and environmental systems were fine. Random computer all over the ship seemed to short out. Two of the replicators in the enlisted mess, the lights in the greenhouse, one of the communication's boards in the bowels of the ship, and a whole bunch of other systems, while not terribly essential, were annoying.

"Bridge, here, what is it Mr. Scott?" Kirk answered.

"Captain, I hate to ask ye this, but all of my engineers are currently working on other systems and now McCoy has called sayin' he's havin' trouble wi' the beds. Can ye go down and hae a look?"

Kirk looked up at Spock who nodded, "I'll be down to get a kit in a minute, Scotty. Spock, you have the bridge."

Kirk knew the urgency in Sickbay. Last thing they needed was everything to crash down here during a battle. Kirk grabbed the last toolkit from Scotty and headed for Sickbay. Sure enough, as he entered the room, things were going haywire. Fortunately, there were no patients in Sickbay, but McCoy was being extremely conversant in swear words. They all looked up as Jim entered Sickbay and looked rather confused.

It took a moment after Kirk removed his gold shirt for them to realize just why he was down there. He started by removing the panel on the first bed, and everything looked fine. He went from bed to bed and finally hit a wall panel, looking at it thoughtfully. He pulled it off and sure enough things started sparking. He covered it back up before heading to a breaker panel and cutting off the power to that panel.

One of the nurses commented, "I didn't know the Captain was an engineer."

McCoy shook his head, "He has Doctorate in Engineering from the University of Moscow, but Scotty wouldn't have called him unless he was stretched thin."

They watched as Kirk went in, replaced and stripped wires, and pretty much rewired the entire panel before turning the power back on. Sure enough, all the biobeds sprang back to life. Kirk even lay down on one to ensure that it was working properly. It was. Kirk replaced the panel before turning to McCoy. "Anything else?" he asked.

"No, thank you, Jim," McCoy replied.

Jim grabbed his kit and his gold shirt and headed off to another request from the Engineer. McCoy knew that it was going to be a long day for anyone who had an engineering background. He could tell that from the way that Dr. Carol Marcus also strode by with a toolkit in her hands.

**Here's the rules:**

**No requests for slash in this universe, especially between established heterosexual characters: ie Kirk, Spock, McCoy, etc. If you give me a good idea for a Mirror universe slash, I just might do it, but it had better be a VERY good idea.**

**Your OC's will be considered, but you need to send me a character with some very real details. Height, weight, species, general description and background.**

**Characters from the other series can be introduced, but, they need a plausible reason to be here. Saavik, T'Pol, Q, Archer, Porthos, Dax and others have been inserted into this universe by me with a way to be here. **

**I'm not above hurting a character if it makes a good story, not just Kirk, although he seems to be the easiest to pick on! lol**

**No permanent deaths of major characters. This includes the ones listed in number 3.**

**This story will last only as long as I keep getting ideas!**

**Only species found in the Star Trek universe will be allowed. You can make one up, as long as you give me a good description. If you tell me, big ears and no hair, I'm going to think Ferengi, so be a little more specific than that.**

**If you're interested in submitting an idea, either leave it in a review, or PM me. Starsinger out.**


	2. Military Ball

**Military Ball**

by Starsinger

**This is for ****worriesareforsquares****. Who wanted some heartwarming Uhura and Kirk friendship stories. Jim is out of the hospital, and, while not confined to a wheelchair, finds himself in it for a special occasion, Starfleet Academy's annual Military Ball. Spock is unable to attend, family matters on New Vulcan, so he asks Kirk to escort Uhura. Don't own any of them.**

Kirk sighed, he knew he was stuck in the chair for the night. It didn't make it any easier, but his legs had stopped cooperating an hour ago, right after he'd gotten his pants on. At least they had waited until after his shower. He closed up his dress jacket and put his hat on his lap. This was going to be a long night. He had promised Uhura a dance, since he was her escort for the night, and it looked like it wasn't going to happen. He was actually a decent dancer, not a ballroom type, but he knew his way around a dance floor.

Jim went outside and made his way to Uhura and Spock's quarters. It was unofficial, but Starfleet was looking the other way, as would Kirk when room assignments were made back on the Enterprise. He suddenly envied Spock the easy relationship, for the most part, that they enjoyed. Uhura did have a temper. He wheeled up to their door and knocked. Uhura opened the door and looked down at Jim, her mouth formed a silent "O".

"I'm sorry, Uhura, but my legs won't cooperate, no matter how hard I try to convince them otherwise," Kirk apologized. She was beautiful and a floor length strapless black straight gown. A pair of white gloves complemented them. Her dark hair was braided into a crown with flowers scattered through it. "You look fantastic, Uhura. Spock should be sorry he missed this."

Uhura smiled at Jim as she reached inside for her clutch and shut the door. Together, they went to the auditorium where the dance was being held. Excited cadets poured in from all directions, "Remember our first ball?" Uhura asked.

"Yeah, got really drunk that night, quietly, oddly enough. I just wasn't in a mood to celebrate the end of the year." Uhura nodded, until McCoy started taking Jim home with him, he had nowhere to go during the breaks and spent long and lonely weeks on the campus. Uhura had spent it pining after Spock. Gailla had thought it was funny. She smiled, missing her old friend.

They slipped into the auditorium and found themselves in line for pictures. Jim smiled as the photographer watched, nonplussed, as he wheeled up to the screen. There was a chair, and Uhura sat demurely in it. Jim placed his hand on her shoulder as they posed for the obligatory photos. Soon, they were off again and found themselves at a table where Uhura slipped her heels off her feet with a groan. "I hate heels," she said. "This dress is long enough to hide that I'm not wearing them." Kirk laughed.

They looked around and found everyone laughing and having a good time. "Who do you think will be crowned Military Queen?" she asked. Jim shrugged his shoulders. The cadets chose their own as King and Queen. It wouldn't involve them, they were chaperones.

Archer deposited himself in a seat next to Jim, "Well, what do you think? Your first ball as chaperones."

Kirk laughed, "Really, John, are you sure I'm a good example as a chaperone?"

"Well, if you're not, then who is?" Archer asked with a laugh. Kirk shrugged as the Admiral went back to the dance. He took Uhura with him, which Kirk appreciated. Jim wandered up to the food table and began to gather edibles. A waiter was kind enough to accompany him back with his drink. McCoy would be proud, he was actually eating without being prodded. Uhura grinned when Archer delivered her back to their table. Jim was an extremely slow eater, and he was unapologetic about it. Uhura nibbled on her own dainties as she surveyed the crowd. Sulu, Chekov and McCoy were all present. Scotty was on the Enterprise, as usual, and Spock was on New Vulcan. She sighed wishing Spock was here, but Kirk was a gentleman, and one of the neatest eaters she had ever met.

"Alright everyone, the time has come, for the crowning of your King and Queen!" the emcee announced. Kirk leaned back to enjoy the show. He wasn't drinking alcohol, still too much medicine to be taken for that not to be a problem, but he did enjoy the ambience. The emcee broke the envelope, "Oh, my, everyone, for the first time since I can remember, they are not cadets! Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and Captain James Kirk!"

Jim nearly choked on the sandwich he was nibbling on. This was not the way he was planning his evening to go. He barely managed to set his sandwich down before Sulu grabbed his chair and pushed him up to the stage. He heard the applause and cheers, and vaguely remembered waving, but this was not the plan. Uhura smiled demurely as she was crowned, and Kirk felt himself wearing something that seemed way too big for his head. Then they were there, expected to dance together. He felt someone behind his chair as the music began and Uhura joined her hands with his. Somehow, with McCoy's help, they actually danced together, and that's all Uhura wanted was one dance.

Soon, they left the ball laughing, "Spock is never going to believe this!" Uhura exclaimed.

"Lieutenant, Nyota, thank you," Kirk said.

Uhura leaned down and kissed his cheek, "No, Jim, thank you, I had a wonderful time." With that he escorted her to her quarters and went home to his bed.


	3. Teaching Tactics

**Teaching Tactics**

by Starsinger

**Jim tries to teach tactics and the way he thinks, Admiral Archer gives him a test. He wants to see this process for himself. Only, it doesn't go as expected. Don't own any of it. Shout out to ****AlbusSPotter ****for this prompt.**

Fleet Captain James T Kirk stood in front of the class, eyes roaming. "Tactics as a general rule are something one gains from study and experience," he explained. "Once you have that knowledge, you may be able to start to put things together and see how the puzzle fits," he went on to explain several scenarios and how they might be approached.

"What about a new one," a voice called out from the back of the class. Everyone rose to attention as Admiral Archer approached. "We have a ship that went missing, or rogue if you will, last week. I know what happened, Jim, let's see if you can figure it out."

The ship was the USS Tereshkova, a small attack ship that patrolled the border between Federation and Klingon space. Jim looked at the scenario but something else nagged at the back of his mind. He flipped back to another page, ignoring the new scenario entirely. It was a scene similar to one he had seen in pictures five years ago while recovering from Khan's attack. "Why is he just watching bombs going off around him?" he muttered. Archer's eyebrows creased as he realized that Kirk wasn't focusing on the task at hand. He walked over. "This man, he's the same one in both pictures. Both times he's watching as events fold around him, the USS Vengeance crashing into San Francisco, and a more recent attack in the city of Tel Aviv."

"That attack was just written off as one by the terrorist organization the Hezbollah, Jim," Archer told him.

Jim gave him a strange look, "The Hezbollah as a terrorist organization hasn't been around since the Eugenics Wars two hundred years ago. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he isn't even human. If he's just standing there, he knows where the bombs are going and where they're going to hit." He pulled up a map of recent attacks around Earth and found a fairly consistent pattern, as random as they seemed.

"Why are terrorist organizations suddenly popping up when they haven't been active in two hundred years?" He suddenly pinpointed something that no one else had seen, his brain working so fast not even Archer could keep up. "Call New York, put them on red alert, they're the next target!" Archer looked at him, dumbfounded. "Tomorrow is the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. What day would be better to make a statement about aliens than when a devastating blow was delivered to the United States over 250 years ago. Better put Washington DC on alert too." Archer pulled out his communicator and started issuing commands. He pulled out the PADD and forwarded the picture to all personnel to keep an eye out for the man.

The next day dawned clear and beautiful, as it had in 2001. Shuttleports and other air facilities were put on high alert, but quietly, they wanted to catch these people. Starfleet personnel in civilian attire boarded flights in and around the world. Then word started trickling in, terrorists were being quietly apprehended trying to take control of shuttles. None succeeded in their plots, but one shuttle did crash, killing everyone on board.

Archer found Kirk that day standing outside looking at the sky, "You saved thousands of lives today, Jim, and the world will never know it."

Jim smiled, that crooked wry smile he was well known for, "As it should be, John, as it should be."


	4. Aftermath

**Aftermath**

by Starsinger

**Archer and Barnett discuss what just happened.**

Archer and Barnett sat at a nearby café, quietly sipping their coffee. Calls were still coming in about the attacks, but they had were getting fewer and fewer. Some were demanding to know how Starfleet had found out about this. They were just told intelligence, trouble was, Section 31 could only wish they could do this. Archer wasn't letting them have Kirk.

"You finally witnessed the 'Lightning storm in space' moment?" Barnett finally spoke. He was frankly envious, this happened so rarely that you had to be there to understand it, or not understand it. Spock and Pike had witnessed both previous occasions, and Spock couldn't even begin to explain it. McCoy tried, he said Kirk's brain worked so fast that even he couldn't keep up.

"It was like he picked up one end of a thread and started gathering up all the loose ends that no one else could see. I've 'ever seen anything like it."

"You know Section 31 is going to do all they can to recruit him. Making him a Fleet Captain is making him an even bigger target."

"I know, Mary made that decision. I don't blame her, he needs the authority that rank will give him, he doesn't want the power. I wish I had a thousand more like him."

"You heard he turned down the Admiralty too, huh?" Barnett asked. "Wise move. He's talking to and Ethics class tomorrow. No, not about Tarsus IV, about Khan. Why he felt he should have been given a trial. He still does think that, even after dying because of the bastard. When I think that Marcus was so willing to throw him and his crew away just for the sake of his ego…" Barnett set the coffee cup down before he crushed it. "How many lives would we have lost today if Jim had stayed dead?"

Archer thought, "Thousands, Richard, thousands."


	5. Hoshi Sato

**Hoshi Sato**

by Starsinger

**After a VERY traumatic and dramatic chapter of "Transitions" by ****beamIrang ****I felt compelled to write this. I recommend "Transitions" btw, it's really good. Just expect the author to be ruthless and you'll be alright. Don't own them.**

After the trial, Archer took Jim to a nearby restaurant. It was clear the old man wanted to talk, McCoy's orders to go get some red meat in the boy, steak if possible, and make sure he eats a desert, gave him an opening. So, Archer ordered New York steak, a loaded baked potato, and a piece of cherry pie with ice cream, and then ordered a salad for himself. Jim glared at him, "MY doctor isn't trying to get me to gain weight, Jim," Archer said with a chuckle.

"You do realized we'll be here a while?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, I've heard about your notorious eating habits. I don't mind," Archer looked at him, "Tell me, please," he pleaded. Jim knew he wasn't talking about Hoshi's death, he wanted to know about her life on Tarsus IV.

Jim smiled sadly as an ice cold glass of Iced Tea was set in front of him. Damn, McCoy was really getting to him. "I met Hoshi-san on my third day at my aunt and uncle's. She was just as charming, affectionate, and welcoming as they were."

"_So, you must be Beatrice's no good nephew, Jimmy," a voice interrupted his thoughts as he crossed the gravel road. Jim looked up to find the oldest woman he had ever met standing in front of a farmhouse. She was tiny, Asian, Japanese by the looks of her, her hair was almost completely white with a few black strands in it. She wore blue jeans, a t-shirt and had her hands on her hips as she gauged the youngster standing in front of her. Jim hadn't yet reached six feet, but he was already showing promise as to his height. "I heard how you drove your father's car off a cliff in Iowa. How'd you find a cliff in Iowa?"_

"_It was a rock quarry," Jim mumbled. He looked at the ground._

_Hoshi walked right up to him and forced his head up to meet her in the eyes. "Come, have tea with me, and never be afraid to look me in the eyes." He followed her into her house. The door opened into a recess in the floor. Jim automatically removed his shoes before following Hoshi. She looked at him with a smile, she didn't even have to ask. He knelt at the tiny table in the living room. The house was decorated in a black and white motif, as silkscreen separated the kitchen from the rest of the house. She walked back to the table with a teapot and poured them both a cup. Jim sipped his tea as Hoshi fed him biscuits. He wolfed them down with the normal appetite of a teenager as she grinned, "So, tell me about yourself."_

"I didn't need to tell her about my parents, she knew both Winona and George," Jim said, pausing long enough to finish chewing a bite of his steak. Looking at Jim now, it was hard to believe he wolfed anything down. As the months went on, I spent days at her home. Aunt Bea always knew where to find me, and I was keeping up my grades at school, so she never minded. She figured Hoshi was a good influence on me. Then, the crops started to fail."

_Hoshi was in her greenhouse, tending to her plants. They were the only ones that weren't affected by the fungus, but the hermetically sealed environment had to do with that. Unfortunately, she couldn't feed everyone. She made sure the kids were fed first, they were always the priority. She and Jimmy still had tea once a week, but even that was getting low. Nothing was preparing them for what was coming. She even warned Jimmy about going to the square that night, he didn't listen, and she didn't go. He lived, she died._

"It's pretty ironic that I lived. Hoshi was kind, warm-hearted, and a grandmother to me," he stared down at his plate, everything was done except the pie as it arrived at his table. "They've erected a memorial to the dead on Tarsus IV, Matt told me that they've removed 'JT' as I'm not dead."

"Jim, you have no idea how much know what happened to her helps, I'm sorry you had to go through that again," Archer patted the other man's hand.

"I'm sorry there was nothing more that I could do to save her. In the end, I don't think I could have kept her hidden too," he said mournfully.

"She wouldn't have wanted you too, Jim, your kids were more important to her than an old lady at the end of her life."

"She had a picture on one of her walls, I'm pretty sure it was all of you on the Enterprise. You and T'Pol were in it." He fished in his pocket and pulled out a simple silver ring, the top of it was the Yin/Yang symbol of balance in all things. "I managed to sneak this out of her house before Kodos' goons arrived and burned it down." Archer's breath blew out explosively as he remembered it being the only piece of jewelry Hoshi ever wore. Jim gave it to Archer, "Here, take it, return it to me whenever."

"Thank you, Jim, you have no idea how much this means to an old man," Archer's eyes glistened, but no tears came forth. The two finished their dinners in companionable silence.


	6. Who Kirk Really Is

**Who Kirk Really Is**

by Starsinger

**AlbusSPotter again, this is the Academy hurt fic, I refuse to do allergic reaction, mostly because I think it's been done enough. Let's try something else. Oh, it can be well done, and I've really enjoyed some fics with his being allergic to everything, but McCoy hadn't known Kirk had been allergic to ANYTHING until ST 2009, or he wouldn't have injected him with that vaccine, just saying. I was tempted to name this, "Let's try to kill Kirk again before Khan has a chance" but the title's too long. During their second year, Uhura discovers something about Kirk that she never expected.**

Uhura and a bunch of cadets celebrated finishing mid-terms like most did, they went off to a bar and had a drinks. Uhura managed to drag Jim along, just for the fun of it. He was actually a good dancer. Jim sighed as he looked around the bar, Uhura realized his heart really wasn't in it tonight.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Uhura asked.

"McCoy is working tonight at the Fleet hospital, and it's Joanna's third birthday, he's kinda bummed. And when he's kinda bummed, I get an earful. Being his roommate isn't the easiest thing in the universe sometimes. I know, I know, I can be a pain in the ass too, don't need to drag that one out of me." Kirk grinned at her, a glass of bourbon cupped in his hand on the bar in front of him.

"Who's Joanna?" Uhura frowned.

Jim reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet, he showed her a picture of a cute little girl with grey eyes. "She's beautiful! She's not yours?"

"No, she's McCoy's. She was born right before Jocelyn, Bones' ex-wife, divorced him," Kirk sighed. "It was the main reason he joined Starfleet." Uhura nodded, he hadn't been the most cooperative person on the shuttle ride to San Francisco. "Hey, Cupcake!" the man turned around, "I'm headed back to the Academy. I'm just not in the mood." The other man nodded before turning his attention back to a young woman who seemed to be enjoying his attentions. It was standard operating procedures, the cadets let each other know when they were leaving someplace like this, in case they never made it back to the Academy. Kirk paid the bartender and headed out.

Jim was considering going over to the hospital to keep Bones company when he heard the scream from the alleyway. "I said NO! Leave me alone! Somebody help me please!" a woman's voice pleaded.

Kirk stopped as he heard a man's voice answer, "You know you want this. Dressed like that, you're just begging for it. Kirk didn't think about it twice, he ran for the alleyway. There, a man had an attractive girl, no more than sixteen, pinned up against a wall. His hand was up under her skirt and half her blouse was ripped away.

"Hey, the lady said no," Kirk said slowly, insolently. The man turned around, the girl took advantage of it to flee toward Kirk dodging the man's friends as the lunged toward her. Kirk never took his eyes off the men as he handed her his jacket to cover herself up with. "Go into the bar and tell a woman named Uhura what's going on here, she'll do the rest."

The girl fled toward the nearby bar, Jim's jacket wrapped around her. She burst in trying to find this woman named Uhura. When Uhura finally arrived she told her that she'd been attacked and that a man came to her rescue, and he was still back in that alleyway with those thugs. Cupcake and his friends ogled the girl as Uhura opened the jacket to reveal cuts, bruises, abrasions, and the torn blouse. No more words were needed as they bolted for the door. Uhura called for reinforcements as she too ran for the door, the bartender right behind her. They reached the alleyway in time to find Cupcake and friends finishing up the fight, but Jim lay on the ground. A large blood stain was forming on his back.

"Uhura to medical! We need a team down to the alleyway by Cayman's bar Stat! We have a cadet down!" she turned and instructed the girl to wait at the entrance for the arrival of Starfleet Security. Cupcake came over, breathing heavily.

"When we entered the alley one of them had him around the neck. I saw what I thought was a blade and Kirk went down. We waded in at that point, no one takes advantage of a girl on our watch."

Uhura understood that, "May I have one of your shirts?" she asked politely. One of them ripped off the shirt of one of the offenders and handed it to her. She lifted up Jim's shirt and found a bloody mess. She pressed the shirt against the wound, hoping to stem the tide of the blood before it was too late.

"Here! We're here!" she heard the girl's voice calling someone before more people joined them. Uhura gave security a quick summation of what happened before they hauled the attackers away.

"Hey, we didn't do nothin' wrong. Just having a bit of fun before HE showed up!" Uhura wanted to hit the man.

An EMT quickly assessed Kirk's condition as another talked to the girl. Her name was Lisa, and she was going home from a party when she was attacked. No she wasn't raped but would submit to an examination. Uhura followed the paramedics as they loaded Jim into the ambulance. "He's lost a lot of blood, I don't know how he'll do, we're getting him back to the hospital, ASAP."

It was McCoy who took the call of the wounded cadet coming in, and McCoy who saw Kirk lying on his stomach on the stretcher. "Dammit Jim, what'd you do this time?" McCoy muttered as he looked at the wound. His lips stretched thin. "Let's prep him for surgery," he announced as they moved from the ER into the rest of the hospital.

Uhura sat in the waiting room, Christopher Pike, and, surprisingly enough, Lisa Hayes, the girl Kirk rescued from the alleyway. Her father was Admiral Hayes, and he was coming over to pick her up later. She was somewhat a genius herself, she was now in college at the age of sixteen. Uhura had given her one of her shirts to wear so she gave up Jim's jacket to Pike as they waited. Pike wasn't surprised by Jim's actions, just said something about his childhood giving him strong opinions about what women should and should not be subjected to.

Admiral Hayes joined his daughter waiting. Cupcake and his friends came around to see how things were going, Uhura promised to tell them when she returned to the dorms. They nodded as they left. Finally, McCoy emerged from surgery to find them waiting. "He's in critical condition, Chris. The knife was serrated, it made a mess going in and an even bigger one coming out. I think Cupcake's arrival was the only thing that kept Jim from being stabbed more than once. I think Jim will be fine, I don't know. We'll keep you posted."

McCoy turned and left as Jim came out of surgery, he was on a ventilator. It was as scary a sight as Uhura had ever seen. This whole night had caused her to reevaluate everything she knew about one James T Kirk. She only hoped that he lived so she could tell him.


	7. Bones

**Bones' Wish**

by Starsinger

**Don't own them.**

Jim was waking up. He could hear Bones' voice responding to something Chris was telling him. He could hear another girl's voice. He also knew he didn't want to open his eyes to another lecture Bones would give him on charging in where Angels fear to tread. He also knew he just butchered that saying. He knew he was in for a lecture because his back hurt and there was a tube down his throat helping him breathe. "Okay, Jim, open your eyes. You're chewing on the end of your breathing tube and you weren't doing that an hour ago," Chris said. With purely a mental sigh Jim opened his eyes and looked up at Captain Christopher Pike and Cadet Leonard McCoy. Both men were peering down at him like he was a specimen in a bottle leaning casually on the bed rails keeping him in bed. Jim waved at the contraption in his mouth. "Oh, you want an explanation?" Chris said with a smirk. Kirk shrugged.

"The knife nicked your diaphragm, the muscle below your lungs that expands and allows you to breathe," McCoy explained. "You've been out a couple of days, and you'll have that down your throat for a couple of more days, just to give your diaphragm time to heal. You should be out of here and giving your instructors hell again in a couple of more weeks. As for that lecture," Jim looked down at his lap, "I hope someone like you is around if Joanna ever gets into that kind of trouble." Jim looked up startled into Bones' grin. His eyes glistened with pride as Bones looked at his friend. Bones handed him a PADD, "For your classwork, your teachers, for some reason, won't accept rescuing a young girl from rape as a legitimate excuse from doing it. Bad manners, apparently." Jim grinned at his gruff manner as Bones left him alone with Chris.

"You did good, son," Chris told him. "Those men would have killed that girl, on top of raping her, and dumped her in the bay. Had a Betazoid go in and read them, just in case. Not allowed in court, but they will go to jail for their assault of the girl. Admiral Hayes is most impressed, you've made a powerful friend, which is why you can afford this private ICU room."

_I'd wondered about that._ Jim typed on the PADD. _How am I supposed to speak Vulcan like this?_ The words were frustrated.

"I assume the question is rhetorical, Jim. I think T'Gren wants you to work on your literacy. Just be grateful that they've shifted away from using symbols instead of letters."

_Yeah, even Surak found that practice illogical. They started to shift away from it after they met the Andorians. Funny how meeting a warrior race inspired writing._

"Vulcans and Andorians are staunch allies, Jim, remember that. They both found value in each other hundreds of years before either of them found Earth." Pike patted him on his shoulder before turning to leave, "Get better, Jim, you've got a couple of medals coming your way, even if that hadn't been an admiral's daughter." Jim nodded, deep into stellar cartography. Chris turned to smile at the younger man before leaving, Jim was coping extremely well with a tube down his throat. The truth was, Jim had to admit, he'd been struggling to breathe while lying on the ground, and he trusted Bones without hesitation. The man was more like a brother to him than his own brother had ever been. He briefly wondered about Sam, and wondered where he might be, or if he was even alive.

Jim's musings were briefly interrupted later by the entry of a young woman with honey blonde hair and a pale face. Some might have found her plain, but there was a certain aura about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He smiled as he recognized her and the older man at her side. "Cadet Kirk?" Admiral Hayes asked. Jim nodded.

_Call me Jim,_ he quickly punched out on his PADD

The Admiral nodded, "I'm Donald to you, young man. You rescued my little girl. Her mother died five years ago, and she's all I have left."

"Daddy," the Lisa said, clearly uncomfortable. She stepped forward and laid a hand on his, "Thank you, Jim."

Hayes looked at the PADD in Jim's hand, "Vulcan? Aren't you a command track?"

_Yeah, a friend in linguistics needed a partner, and I'd just finished Anthropology._ Jim shrugged. Hayes looked at Jim carefully, apparently making his own evaluation of the young man.

As they left Hayes stopped by and talked to McCoy, "What's that boy's aptitude?"

"Jim?" McCoy asked. "He's twenty-four and has two masters degrees one in Theoretical Physics and another in Engineering from the University of Moscow. Speaks four languages fluently and is working on his fifth. He's reckless, headstrong, a pain in my ass, but inspires those around him to do better and go further. Oh, he's a tactical genius, he finished his tactics classwork two weeks into the class and slept the rest of the time. Frustrated his teacher to no end when he knew the answers better than the instructor, and told him what would have worked better. His mind works, mostly, at dizzying speeds that no one can keep up with."

"Is he Xenophobic?" the Admiral asked.

"Are you looking for a flaw in the boy?" McCoy asked. "Got a big one for you. He has an enormous chip on his shoulder because of his father, George Kirk. When Pike recruited him, he'd been in and out of jail several times. One of these days, that look before you leap attitude is going to get him killed. I say he'll make captain of some ship before he's thirty. There are bets going around that he does it before he's twenty-eight. He also has no sense of self-worth because of an abusive step-father and a neglectful mother. There are days I just want to go beat the crap out of them."

"There's something you're not telling me," Hayes said flatly.

"There is, but it's not my secret to tell. Outside of me and Chris, there are only eight others who know it, and they haven't seen him in years."

Hayes left and Jim finished his schoolwork. After he was discharged from the hospital, Jim was besieged even more by the female student body. When he and Uhura finally met up for another late night study session he thanked her. Uhura smiled, "I'm just glad you trusted me enough to send Lisa to me. Where's McCoy?"

Jim smiled, "Chris was right when he told me I'd made a powerful friend when I rescued that girl. I dropped a note with Donald about Joanna's birthday. McCoy should be down visiting her about now."

Uhura looked at Jim for a long time, "You're a good man to have around, Cadet Kirk."

"Why thank you, Cadet Uhura!"

**Oh, internet is out, will be until Wednesday night, sorry. Sporadic updates until then.**


	8. Nightmares

**Nightmares**

by Starsinger

**Suggested by a guest who wouldn't give me a name to call them with. Jim is having nightmares, and McCoy knows their cause. He would be calling Pike in to help, but that is no longer an option. So, he calls the one person in the universe who is in a unique position to know exactly where Jim is, Spock Prime. This is in direct reference to both Star Treks II: the Wrath of Khan and III: the Search for Spock, and into XII: Into Darkness. I'm sorry, I'm no longer posting spoiler warnings. The movie has been out for almost two months. If you haven't seen it by now, I'm sorry. Don't own any of them.**

He was dying. He crawled through the tunnels, barely succeeded in starting the warp core, and now, he couldn't breathe. He gasped for air, breathing in the poison his lungs no longer able to cope. Fire rippled along every nerve, and he knew that this was something that McCoy couldn't fix. He made it to the door, and looked up to see a blue shirt, but it wasn't Spock, it was Winona, "Look at you, just like your father," she sneered. "Oh, so noble hearted, no wonder I prefer Sam."

Jim sat up gasping for air that was not poisoned. The dream again, "Lights!" The hospital room lit up. Jim swung his legs over the side of the bed and leveraged himself into the wheelchair. He wheeled himself out toward the balcony, there would be no more sleep tonight. The nurses watched him go, there was nothing they could do to help him. Only so much that Psychiatrists could do to help as well. Before the late twentieth century doctors would label this as shell shock, and tell their patients to get over it. By the latter part of that century, they realized it was a very real condition and started treating it as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They would often be let go from the military and sometimes paid benefits. Jim didn't want to leave Starfleet, he just didn't know what to do.

McCoy soon joined him with a jacket, reminding Jim that it was too cold to be out in just a hospital gown and shorts. "You are wearing shorts under there, right?" Jim just looked at him. "Just asking. Nurses were complaining." McCoy laughed at the look on his face, "Okay, so they were complaining that you started to wear the shorts!"

Jim laughed at McCoy's dry humor, "So, Doc, how do we fix this head case?"

"I have an idea, Jim, let me talk to someone and see if he's agreeable. We'll know in a couple of days if he is." Jim nodded. He was willing to try just about anything at this point.

The next day the whispers started, the distinguished figure swept through the hospital that he had visited before, only the ICU nurses had known about his previous visit. Everyone stopped and stared as a much older version of Spock stepped in front of the nurse's station, "Excuse me, where may I find Dr. Leonard McCoy." One of the orderlies ran for another room.

McCoy emerged holding a cup of coffee in one hand, he smiled, "Ambassador Spock, I'm glad you could come." McCoy glanced around at the nurses who suddenly decided they had to be somewhere else. "This way."

Spock followed the doctor, "He's having nightmares about dying."

McCoy sighed, "Yes, he is. There's nothing we've tried that's actually helping. I understand you went through a similar experience, maybe…"

Spock nodded, "I will do what I can, McCoy." Spock entered the room and quietly closed it behind him, Jim awoke from a troubled nap and smiled with genuine affection at the Vulcan. "It is good to see you too, Jim."

"You're the one Bones called?" Jim asked, clearly puzzled.

"Yes, Jim, in my universe, I was on the other side of the door, not you. I was the one who died. And it was you and your amazing group of friends, who are my friends as well, who pulled me back to life. My wife had something to do with that too, but that's another story."

"Saavik," Jim mused, "you've mentioned her before."

"I miss her very deeply," Spock admitted. "I also entered that warp core chamber knowing I would die. McCoy and Scotty tried their hardest to stop me, and it was McCoy who called you when there was nothing left to do but say good-bye."

"Scotty called you, McCoy knew about it when I landed on his table, at least that's what he told me. Funny thing about being dead, don't remember much." Spock nodded, and then started talking about his own death. Noting how the Enterprise would have been destroyed if it hadn't gotten away from the Reliant in time. "I never realized how much they cared about me until I woke up," Jim muttered.

"It was much the same for me, my friend. My insecurities came from being a half-breed, and being bullied for it. Vulcan children can be just as cruel as humans. You were always the self-confident, self-assured captain I looked up to. At least I thought so until I learned about Tarsus IV," the old man muttered.

"Your Jim was also on Tarsus IV?" Jim blurted out in horror.

"Yes, he was, and he was able to find closure when Kodos died, at the hands of his own daughter, strangely enough. Jim, McCoy asked me to come here and talk because I'm in a unique position to know exactly how you've been feeling, and I will not judge you for it."

Jim's eyes rested on his ancient companion before he talked about his own death. It was slow, and drawn out. "I wasn't blind at the end, but my eyes were going. I could just see Spock on the other side of the door, most of the time he was a blur, but I knew it was him. I'm so grateful that Scotty called him in, I wasn't alone…" Spock watched as his friend broke down and cried. Then, he did a very human thing, something that in his long years living with humans, taught him did a lot of good. He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Jim into his arms, letting him cry. Jim clung to him like a child, much like Spock's own children had done when they awoke afraid.

Finally, the tears subsided and Jim's grip grew lax. Spock gently pushed Jim back into the bed as he realized that his friend had fallen asleep. Spock pulled up the sides of the bed and watched him sleep, undisturbed by terrible dreams. McCoy soon stepped in and watched. "I'll stay here with him, Doctor. Hopefully, he won't have any more nightmares. You were right, he did need this."

McCoy nodded and stepped away, heading for his own bed. Jim was in good hands.


	9. Of Cats and Tribbles

**Of Cats and Tribbles**

by Starsinger

**Requested by ****Shadow Silver Spark****, this is what its name sounds like, involving cats and tribbles. This is inspired by a recent kitten video involving a kitten and two lizards. She's curious about one and the other sneaks up on her and scares the hell out of her. It's hysterical. This is in the same universe as Admirals, only Kirk isn't appearing as a corpse here. Someone gives Admiral Pike a kitten, and two tribbles. Don't own any of it.**

"Awwww, she's so cute," Uhura cooed at the tiny creature.

"I hate tribbles," Pike grumbled.

"I was talking about the kitten," Uhura said as she plucked the tiny calico creature out of Pike's hands and held her to her face. The kitten placed a curious paw on the woman's face. She and Spock were at Pike's quarters having dinner, or being interrogated about Jim's current condition, depending on who you asked. "Admiral, it's been six weeks since Khan, why don't you just go see him?" Uhura asked as she sat down in a chair and deposited the kitten in her lap. The infant curled up in her lap and purred herself to sleep.

Pike sighed, just having gotten out of the hospital a couple of weeks ago himself, "I don't like seeing Jim so…frail, and so dependent."

"He's feeding himself and sitting up by himself now, Chris," Spock responded. "Physical Therapy starts next week. Komack's picking him up for Sam's graduation next week."

Pride swelled in Pike's chest at the thought that another Kirk had turned his life around. The only one left was Winona, and he feared she was a lost cause. "I'll see him then," Chris said, nodding to himself. Uhura looked down at the floor and noticed the two tribbles making their way toward the humans. Uhura reluctantly put the warm fuzzball on the floor as Pike served dinner. Chicken for the humans, a broccoli casserole and fresh fruit salad for everyone. Spock nodded appreciatively.

Uhura watched as the inquisitive kitten stalked the round, furry things with no visible appendages, or eyes. She watched as the kitten batted at one taking no notice of the other. The first moved away and the kitten slowly started to stalk after it when the other tribble suddenly snuck up on the kitten causing her to jump three feet in the air and turn around and face the tribble. It cooed at her. She let out let out a lout "Mrrroooooowwwww!" before turning around and scampering off, not before sliding on the slick wooden floor. Cats don't come with brakes.

Uhura and Pike started laughing and Spock's mouth twitched with amusement at the baby cat's antics. Even he found it amusing. "Well, I'm never bored around here!" Pike said with a smile.

As they continued to eat they watched the kitten silently walk her way around the back of the sofa and back into sight of the offending furballs. The tribbles had both apparently forgotten her as she snuck up behind one of them and batted a paw at it, watching it skid across the floor. She'd found a new game with new toys. Uhura shook her head in wonder as the kitten continued to bat the tribble around like it was a ball.

"I've got it! Her name is Trouble for Tribbles!"


	10. Trouble for Tribbles

**Trouble for Tribbles**

by Starsinger

**Pike has convinced McCoy to let him bring in the furballs he's adopted. Jim doesn't suspect a thing. Don't own them.**

Jim sighed, John had given into McCoy's demands and given him a desk job, or, in this case, a bed job. "Note to self, don't die in McCoy's reach again, you'll spend long months in the hospital," he quipped grimly. Jim shook his head as he looked at the latest reports from ship's captains on the frontiers. Where he desperately wished he could be, but his ship and his body had different ideas.

"Any luck?" a familiar voice was heard. Jim looked up and smiled as he saw Pike enter the room carrying two pet carriers.

Jim looked at him curiously, "I can't see patterns that aren't there, Chris. At least if they're not there yet. When did you get a pet?"

"Well, the cat adopted me and the other two McCoy gave me, with strict instructions not to feed them too much."

Jim looked perplexed, "Cat?" Chris just smiled as he shut the door behind him and set the carriers down on the chair. Soon, he pulled out a tiny kitten and dumped her on Jim's knee. Trouble looked up at this new person with a questioning, "Mrow?" Jim reached out and scratched the kitten behind the ears. She immediately started purring and walked further up Jim's body as Chris pulled out two tribbles. "Now that's a combination you don't normally see," Jim said with a laugh."

"Yeah, she tends to bat them around the apartment. Don't feel sorry for them though. They sneak up on her when she's asleep and scare the crap out of her. It's a game they've invented. Tribbles can actually move pretty quickly when they want to."

Jim watched as Chris set all three on the floor and as Trouble started batting them around. He couldn't help but smile, it had been a week since Jo left Zurich with her mom, and he missed her almost as much as McCoy did. Trib 1, as Chris called it, snuck up under the bed while Trib 2 lay quiescent on the floor, almost taunting Trouble. She continued batting it around until Trib 1 popped out from under the bed and surprised Trouble, causing to leap straight into the air and run behind a chair to hide. A variation of this game continued as Chris sat down on the edge of Jim's bed, "How are you doing?"

"Alright, I guess, I'm sitting up in the chair for a couple of hours at a time, now. They still have to put a tray table in front of me for when I fall asleep." Jim watched with a grin as Trib 1 flew into the air only to be caught by the kitten. Well, caught being relative, the Tribble was bigger than Trouble. "Getting used to that, though. I hope it comes to an end soon."

"When you've healed enough for it, Jim," Chris said.

"I know, Chris. Hey, have you met Nurse Crachett. Best nurse I've got, although that's her maiden name. Her name's actually Leslie Sisko, she and her husband have kinda adopted me," Chris grinned. He had met Mrs. Sisko, she was an earthy woman who had a huge heart. Jim was in good hands with this family.

"They're good people, Jim," Chris said. Jim laughed as Trouble leaped to the edge of the bed and proceeded to claw her way back up to them. She then demanded attention from them while the Tribbles started knocking themselves against Chris' shoes. Chris scooped them up, "I would never have thought that these things have personalities, but they definitely do. Trib 1 is the quiet one, it'll play possum the most, while Trib 2 is the sneaky one. Scared the bejeezus out of me more than once."

"You heard about Sam?" Jim asked petting Trouble absently.

"Yeah, I'm glad he's turned his life around," Chris' voice drifted off as Jim fell asleep the tiny kitten in his lap. He left the room letting the nurses know about Trouble, "Let me know if she causes trouble, I'll be back in a few hours to pick her up." He ended up leaving the tribbles behind too, the nurses had fallen in love.

When he went back for his friends McCoy stopped and thanked him, "Sometimes, Mother Nature provides the best source of therapy. Better than anything we can provide."


	11. McCoy and Disasters

**McCoy and Disasters**

by Starsinger

**On an away mission to explore an uninhabited planet for colonization, its indigenous inhabitants (non-sentient) decide to take issue with the away team for taking one of its young. There are serious injuries, and unhappy doctors. This is following a suggestion by ****Spock4Eternity****. Fortunately, the Enterprise has more than one doctor. Don't own any of them.**

This had started out as a routine away mission. This planet had no apparent sentient life, and looked suitable for colonization. But, as Jim Kirk sat on a rock nursing a broken shoulder, non-sentient didn't always mean not dangerous. Jim scrubbed at his face with his good hand, Pike was going to have a field day over this.

They encountered a Class M planet on the edges of Federation space whose native inhabitants hadn't discovered fire. A good sign that this might be a planet suitable for colonization. An away team consisting of Kirk, Spock, a young Vulcan cadet named T'Ler, a few security people, ahem, red shirts, and McCoy had beamed down to the planet to investigate. Along the way McCoy picked what appeared to be a young quadripedal creature looking like a cross between a deer and a raccoon. Two of the appendages appeared to end in "hand" like extensions. The poor thing was injured, and McCoy thought it would be a good opportunity to learn about the biology of the place by nursing it back to health.

It remained quiet for almost three days before finally feeling well enough to let its feelings be known about the whole situation, loudly. It started crying. McCoy, had been about to let it go back into its native environment when rocks started being thrown. It started off with small rocks and they progressively got bigger as larger members of the species took part in this fight. No one wanted to hurt these animals, and McCoy managed to put the youngster on the ground before getting hit with something resembling a mediums sized boulder in the back. Spock responded by attempting to pull McCoy away from danger, only to be his as well in the chest. Things went spectacularly downhill from there.

Kirk started firing his phaser at these creatures, set on stun, to at least try and frighten them away. It worked, but only after he broke his shoulder, three of the four security guards were either killed or seriously hurt, and T'Ler twisted her ankle. T'Ler was on the Enterprise learning from M'Benga about Vulcan and human physiology to qualify as a doctor in Starfleet. Jim privately admitted that she'd make a fine officer, most Vulcans did, but the pain in his shoulder was making it difficult to think. She attended Spock's injuries before coming over to him. With her help he bound his arm to his side so as not to make matters worse. Then, he went around to the humans and administered first aid as the final security guard helped.

"I qualified as a field medic before I joined Starfleet," Kirk told T'Ler before resuming what he was doing. He watched as she took considerable care over Spock. She was unusual for a Vulcan, she qualified for the Academy at seventeen, and while her long black hair and chiseled features were not that uncommon for the species, her startling azure blue eyes made her stand out. Brown was the most common color for Vulcans, as most humanoid/Vulcanoid species, but other colors did occur.

Finally, Jim pulled out his communicator, "Kirk to Enterprise, Away Team to beam up. Alert M'Benga that we have three serious injuries, including McCoy and Spock."

"Aye, sir," came the response. Kirk felt the familiar tug as they were transported to the Enterprise. M'Benga was waiting in the transporter room. He carefully maneuvered Spock, McCoy, and Curry onto waiting gurneys as Jim went with them. He helped the young Vulcan limp her way down to Sickbay as they were among the walking wounded.

Dr. M'Benga along with a new doctor, Catrell, took McCoy and Spock back immediately for surgery. Curry didn't make it, he was dead on arrival. Kirk braced himself against a bulkhead as Chapel and one of the male orderlies reset his shoulder by hand. The whole process was five of the longest minutes he'd had in a long time, but it felt better when they were done. Kirk was resting before returning to his quarters as M'Benga exited surgery with Spock. His smock was covered in green blood, "He'll be fine, Captain. Just leave him in peace and quiet and let the Vulcan Healing Trance do its work." They watched as Spock was transferred to a bed and M'Benga came over to check the work done on his shoulder. "It will be fine, Captain, just leave it in the sling for a few days. It'll be good as new."

McCoy was another story, the solid hit to his back barely missed his spine, but caused severe bruising and broken ribs not to mention internal bleeding. Dr. Curry was every bit as competent as McCoy and M'Benga and McCoy awoke, briefly, while being wheeled out of surgery, "You're not going to yell at me, are you Jim?"

Jim was taken aback by the question, "No, Bones, I'll let M'Benga do that. I'm not your doctor."

"You might as well go rest in your quarters, Captain," Chapel told him. "I'll call if anything happens."

"Thanks, Chapel," Jim said as he slowly made his way back to his quarters. As he looked over at Spock, T'Ler was hovering over his bed.


	12. Concern

**Concern**

by Starsinger

**The day following the attack, and Spock comes out of his trance. Fortunately, M'Benga knows how to give him a hand in doing so. Don't own any of them.**

Kirk was back the next day. M'Benga had wanted to wait until the next day to use the bone regenerator to help his shoulder heal, and Kirk wanted to see how the away team was doing. He waited patiently as Nurse Chapel ran the tricorder over it and passed the readings onto M'Benga. M'Benga had Jim set his arm down on a table while he ran the regenerator over his shoulder. It wasn't comfortable, but Jim had been through a lot worse. While M'Benga was checking his work one last time, T'Ler came running in, "Doctor, Spock is reviving." M'Benga quickly turned the final check over to Dr. Curry and hurried out of the room.

Curry quickly finished, advising the Captain to keep the arm in a sling the rest of the week before they both hurried out to see what was happening. Spock was on his feet being gently restrained by T'Ler as M'Benga stood in front of him and slapped him. The slaps were hard enough to sting and get Spock's attention without actually causing any injury, but the continuous nature of the blows caused alarm as Kirk approached M'Benga. Just as he was about to put a stop to the whole procedure, Spock put up a hand, "It's alright, Jim," came his husky voice. "M'Benga knows what he's doing. We're fortunate to have him aboard. T'Ler is the only one strong enough to restrain me while the Doctor did what needed to be done." Spock reached out a hand and laid it on M'Benga's sleeve, "Thank you, Doctor."

"M'Benga, just how did you become an expert in Vulcan physiology?" Kirk asked.

"I served in the Vulcan Halls of Healing on Mount Seleya ten years ago, Captain. I applied there after finishing up my residency. They were intrigued enough to let me go study. I became certified there to treat Vulcan patients. The healing trance can be a tricky thing. Vulcans can come out of light ones for minor injuries with little to no help. For deeper trauma, even the end stages of Pon Farr, it requires direct intervention, otherwise they'll never completely come out of it and die." Kirk blanched at the thought of what would have happened if M'Benga hadn't been here. "Uhura should be able to take him back to his quarters tonight. Go get some rest, T'Ler, I'll see you in the morning," they both watched the cadet leave. "I think T'Ler has developed a crush on our Commander."

Kirk nodded as they approached McCoy. Bones was in and out of consciousness, and while M'Benga wasn't really concerned about the outcome, but wanted someone to sit with Kirk. Jim pulled up a chair and a table to put a PADD on so he could still perform some work. He watched T'Ler as surreptitiously as he could as she finally propelled herself out of Sickbay, and just in time, too. Uhura came off shift and strolled in to check on Spock and Bones.

"How's the shoulder?" the question came out of nowhere. Jim looked up and saw Uhura hovering over him and McCoy.

"Healing, M'Benga said I'll be back on duty by the end of the week. How's Spock?"

"We're leaving in a few minutes. How's McCoy?"

"Grumpy, as usual, he hates being in here even worse than I do. I mean as a patient!" Kirk laughed. Uhura patted him on the shoulder as she and Spock eventually left.

Jim had fallen asleep in the chair when he heard McCoy's voice, "Hey, go to your quarters and rest that shoulder. You don't need to babysit a grumpy old man."

Kirk awoke with a grin, "I'm not. M'Benga asked me to sit with you, and after all that you've done for me…" Jim didn't need to finish the sentence.

McCoy patted Jim's hand, "Well, for a change, you just pulled my ass out of the fire, and I appreciate it."

"Hey, what are friends for?"


	13. Kirk's Habits

**Kirk's Habits**

by Starsinger

**This contains the birthday party mentioned in Two Weeks of Hell. Thank you ****AlbusSPotter**** for the prompt. Kirk's eating habits have long been the subject of speculation. McCoy learns of Jim's involvement in Tarsus IV after Jim's habits catch up with him. Don't own them.**

It wasn't that Jim didn't eat, he did. McCoy watched him do it often enough to know he did it, but patterns seemed to develop from the first day at the Academy. First day after they woke up Kirk looked up and saw McCoy about to head out for breakfast, "Come on, Jim. Time for breakfast."

"Oh, yeah, breakfast," Kirk responded. He followed Bones to the mess hall and got breakfast. Jim absently led McCoy to a far corner of the room where he could watch everyone coming in and sat down. The next thing McCoy realized was that Jim took the entire meal hour to eat his breakfast, and lunch and dinner.

The next thing McCoy realized was that Jim didn't eat much. Barely enough to keep a healthy weight, and even then his instructors were glaring at him about his weight. On top of that, he was a neat freak. His side of the dorm room was immaculate. Nothing out of place unless it was something that drifted over from McCoy's side of the room, and then it tended to end up somewhere embarrassing, like the toilet. His eating habits and his cleanliness were exactly the same, clean and tidy.

One day, McCoy threw Jim a birthday party. Upon realizing people were coming over for a party, Jim started cleaning up McCoy's side of the room. People started arriving and Jim was running the vacuum cleaner and the feather duster at the same time. McCoy was attempting to pick up his mess. Naturally, everybody drifted over to Jim's side of the room. Uhura had brought a cake as well as presents.

It was at this point that McCoy became dumbfounded. Jim didn't realize that all the fuss was over him. People started handing him presents and all he did was look at them, unsure as to what to do with them. "It's your birthday, Jim. Haven't you ever had a birthday party?" McCoy asked.

"Well, no, I mean Sam used to buy me presents, but, no one else really cared about it being my birthday, I mean, it was the day my Dad died."

McCoy stared at Jim in consternation. Uhura immediately took up the cleaning of McCoy's half of the room while they sat Jim down. McCoy gave him a large black and white photograph of a lakeside at dusk. Uhura gave him a tiny crystal vase that caught and reflected the light. Cupcake paid off his bar tab. Jim even had to be shown to blow out the candles on his birthday cake. It made McCoy sad that Jim had obviously not had any of the childhood experiences that most people take for granted.

No one was really sure how, but a large man stormed the party, and it was obvious from the way Jim shrank from him that he knew the man. The man demanded money from Jim, and Jim refused. The drunk grabbed Jim by the arm and yelled at him that he needed money and Jim was going to give it to him. Not even Cupcake had ever witnessed this kind of behavior. He stepped up to the man and tapped him on the shoulder, inviting him to step outside, but not before the drunk landed a solid hit on Jim on the shoulder. Jim dropped to the floor, curling in a little ball and whimpered.

The whole scene made McCoy's blood boil. The only people he'd seen ever react in this way had been severely abused, and in McCoy's mind, this was Jim's abuser. Cupcake must have come to a similar conclusion, because he was seen hauling the man away with several friends. When they returned their knuckles were bruised and bloodied, no one said a word. McCoy checked Jim over, he didn't think it was anything worse than a bruise. "Come on, Jim, he's gone. It's all over, he's not going to hurt you again," McCoy kept saying over and over.

Jim slowly uncurled himself from the fetal ball he'd tucked himself into as Christopher Pike showed up, his face became unreadable as he dropped to a crouch in front of him. "It was Frank, Chris, he was here," Jim whimpered.

Pike looked up as Cupcake gave a short summary of what happened and what they had done about it. Pike nodded his thanks as the party continued. "How'd he get here? Why? How'd he find me?" Pike had no answers, and had Cupcake find security and throw Frank in jail. When he came back Frank had disappeared, nowhere to be found. An alert was given out, he was not allowed on Academy property, no matter what happened.

The next day Kirk told McCoy about his abusive childhood. Frank was his stepfather, "When I was ten my Mom shipped me off to her sister's. I returned about five years later and my mom wanted nothing to do with me, so I traveled the world. Got a couple of Master's Degrees, learned a few languages, and wound up back in Iowa where I got arrested a few more times."

"Tell him, Jim, he needs to know about those years at your aunt's," Pike leaned into him. "It's alright, he's not going to judge you. There are already whispers about those scars."

Kirk sighed, "You've heard about the Tarsus 9?" McCoy nodded, "I'm JT."

That hit McCoy like a ton of bricks. He knew who JT was, they had just finished discussing Tarsus IV in ethics class. "That explains your eating habits, Jim. You just got used to not eating."

Pike was rubbing soft circles on Jim's back, "It's okay, Jim, everything's fine. Frank is gone." Jim never saw Frank again, he died three weeks later in a barroom brawl. Somebody decided to beat the crap out of him. Jim never forgot the lessons learned that day. He finally realized there were people here who really and truly cared about him, and he treasured all the gifts they gave him. It was that determination that drove him to save his family from the fate both Marcus and Khan had decreed for them in the space above San Francisco.

**Well, this was restarted three times before I finally got done. The picture mentioned in this story is actually sitting behind me on the wall. I just fell in love with that picture. Please R&R.**


	14. Space Seed

**Space Seed**

by Starsinger

**Again, ****Silver-ShadowSpark**** prompt. Spock Prime faces the man who once caused his own death as his friend lies near death. Don't own them.**

Spock Prime stopped before the brig area in Starfleet Headquarters. He was here to see, and confirm, that this was indeed the criminal known as Khan Noonien Singh. He kept his face impassive, but if this was Khan... Spock had to admit it. Khan was one of the few beings in the universe that could strike fear into his soul, only because he remembered him.

Spock walked into the brig and Admiral Komack turned to face him, "Thank you for coming, Ambassador. We appreciate you doing this for us." Spock nodded. He hadn't gone to see Jim, yet. He was afraid of what he would find. Spock's gaze roamed the cells with a feeling akin to dread. Then, he saw him. A predator on the prowl. Powerful, intelligent, dangerous.

There was no longer any doubt in Spock's mind as he strolled up to the cell holding Khan. The two contemplated each other. "The way you approached me means you can only be one person. Ambassador Spock. I read about you in your intelligence report. I never thought to meet you face to face."

Urbane, educated, and smooth, they were also adjectives that described this man. He could and did pour on the charm as he faced the Vulcan. "I am," Spock replied.

"So, why have you come to see a lowly prisoner? Hmm? Did I piss you off somehow?"

"I knew you," came the simple reply.

"Oh, in your universe I existed as well. How was I?"

"Dangerous, psychotic, manipulative and a murderer," Spock replied.

"Oh, who did I kill in your universe? Your precious captain?"

"You caused my death," Spock replied quietly, and painfully.

The other man smirked, "You don't look dead. Now, why would I want to kill you?"

"You were trying to kill James T Kirk. You were hell-bent on doing just that. I was on the ship he was on, and simply in the way." That was an oversimplification. Spock had, like Jim most recently, chosen what happened to him.

"You know, I'm sorry he was the one to die, I expected it to be his engineer. Waste of a talented man, that death is. I found him a highly capable, extremely intelligent opponent. He would have been a great man, if he had lived."

"Where is the Botany Bay?" Spock asked quietly.

"How is the Captain, did my blood revive him?" Khan retorted. Spock's eyes turned haunted, "You and your counterpart in this universe are very much alike. I don't know where the Botany Bay is. I'd tell you to ask Admiral Marcus, but he's no longer talking." Khan paused, "He's still dead, isn't he. It didn't work?"

Spock backed up, not answering the question given. Khan resumed his prowl. "You succeeded in doing the one thing Khan in my time could not do. He was determined to kill Captain Kirk."

"It seems that I succeeded then. How interesting. Waste of a good opponent, though. Marcus had nothing on Kirk." Khan deliberately turned his back on Spock. Spock turned his back on Khan.

"Either kill him, or put him back in cryosleep, Admiral. That man has no business being in the waking world again. He will only cause more death, destruction, and pain." Admiral Komack nodded as the elderly Vulcan left.

_Later that day_

McCoy turned from another long fought battle with Jim's body. He rubbed his eyes tiredly as the breathing tube down Kirk's gullet did the job for him. "I'm sorry, Jim. It's the only way to keep you alive," he sighed as he sat down in the chair.

"What happened, Doctor?" a voice asked.

McCoy turned to see the elderly Spock walk into the room, "His left lung filled with fluid and collapsed. I drained out the fluid, but now he's." Bones broke. His best friend kept trying to die, and he kept trying to fight these attempts with everything he knew. "I don't even know if this is all worth the effort. What if he never wakes up."

Spock ran light fingers over the Captain's head before settling into the mind-meld. McCoy watched impassively. Soon, Spock returned to the present before he turned and walked over to the window, contemplating the world outside. "He's there, Doctor, never fear. He's in considerable pain and very much afraid, but he is there." He sighed, "I led Khan to believe that Jim is dead."

"You lied," McCoy said softly.

"A trick I learned from an old friend," Spock said. "Khan spewed so much of his anger and hate out on Jim in my universe, that I find myself compelled to protect this one in any way possible. If, somehow, he manages to find his way out of whatever hell Starfleet has planned for him, Khan will not come looking for Kirk." McCoy was not the first to protect Jim, nor would he be the last.

"Jim is, we all are, lucky to have you as a friend."


	15. The Follies of Genius

**The Follies of Genius**

by Starsinger

**Pike learns that Kirk took the VSA Entrance Exam, and passed. Don't own them.**

Kirk was asleep when Pike entered the room. Pike was now slowly walking again, thanks to the expert skill of Starfleet's doctors, and he really wanted to talk to Jim. He sat down in the bedside chair and waited out Jim's enforced nap. Jim awoke with a smile for Chris, "Nice to see you, Chris." Pike gave him a long look, "What did I do this time?" Jim asked, nervously.

"You got into the Vulcan Science Academy," Chris stated, it wasn't a question.

Jim shrugged and mumbled, "Wasn't that hard,"

"Jim, there are Vulcans who spend years studying and never make it in, and you did it without half trying?" Chris asked.

"Oh, come on! It started off by asking about Murphy's Law! How hard can a test be if it starts asking about Old Man Murphy?"

"Jim, this means you have thrown every single aptitude test you've ever taken. Why?"

Jim compressed his lips, "Chris, by the time I drove that car off that cliff, I'd graduated from high school. I had even started a few college classes. Then, I got shipped off to Tarsus IV, where I was re-enrolled in a local junior high. I did all the classwork in a few days, and just turned in the homework when it was due. There was a special school there for the gifted and talented, but for some reason, I shied away from it. It didn't feel right, so I played average. You'd never believe that I played dumb." Chris nodded.

"Funny, I was targeted because I was 'average', he never targeted the kids in the school, or the smart ones outside of school. As my science project, right before the famine, I started working on a specific crop that would be resistant to just about any problems that might arise: drought, disease, fungi, you know the usual. When the order came down for us to gather in the square, he'd received the work I'd done on the plants, but didn't realize it was me. I escaped, naturally."

Jim pulled out a flash drive, and plugged it into his PADD before handing it to Pike, "Did he ever find out?" Pike asked.

"Yes, he also realized that I'd survived the massacre. That's one of the reasons he targeted me. He wanted to make sure I never finished my work. It would erase in justification he might have had for what he did."

"Jim, what are you going to do with this?" Chris asked.

"Sarek has agreed to take it back to Vulcan and put it out there under their auspices. My name will never be mentioned. God forbid that it's known that I'm a Tarsus IV survivor. I don't need the money that the patent would bring."

Pike paused, looking at him, "Tarsus IV could have made you a very bitter person, Jim. Very angry against the universe and what it did to you, and for a while it did. But, during that time, it also made you so focused on making sure what happened there didn't happen elsewhere, that greed lost out to compassion."

Jim chuckled, "I am greedy, Chris. My greed is for knowledge and women, not money or fame. Although, I've been told I'm quite famous now."

"Those blue eyes are going to get you into trouble, son," Pike chuckled.

"Already have," Jim said with a grin. He pressed the nurse's button, "Maybe I can get them to help me into the chair, at least for a little while. I'd like to go out onto the terrace. It's quite beautiful." Pike stood back as the nurses did just that. They admonished Pike to bring him back in if he fell asleep after securely tucking him in with blankets. "Geez, you'd think I was going to fall apart by a good stiff breeze."

Jim was right, Chris decided. Zurich's view was quite beautiful. He looked over at his young friend and found himself agreeing with Komack, Jim did look fragile, even as his health steadily improved. "Jim, you have no idea how frightened I was when I heard you'd been killed."

"Chris, I had two options. First, die when the ship hit the ground along with the rest of my crew and those innocents on the ground, or, second, die in that chamber, and deny both Khan and Marcus their final victory, allowing my crew to survive. I had no idea that Khan would set his ship on a collision course with San Francisco. The needs of the many and all that."

"In the end," Chris said, "they decided that the needs of the many were best served by the needs of the one. THAT is what marks you as one of the greats, Jim. A crew so loyal that would do anything for you." Jim shook his head, "Yes, you made mistakes, we all have. You just have to decide to move on." Jim pulled out his PADD and handed it to Pike. Pike began reading its contents and his eyebrows went up, "Quantum Strings and Their Properties? Theoretical Engineering: How We Can Make Intership Transport a Functional Reality? You wrote those?"

"I submitted them as my Doctoral Theses recently. Not a whole lot to do recently," Jim said with a crooked smile. "Had Scotty look it over and Spock before he left on the Gagarin. They believe they're quite sound."

"Jim, I don't even understand half of this stuff in either paper, and you're showing me the ones in English. Is that Cyrillic?"

"Yeah, that's where I got my original Masters Degrees from, Russia."

"Jim, I'm looking forward to the day when I can call you Dr. Kirk," Chris said with a laugh.


	16. Engineering Schemes

**Engineering Scheme**

by Starsinger

**A guest suggested I do something about something happening to Chekov. Instead, Chekov has worked so hard for the Engine redesign, that Starfleet's Engineers want him to come explain it, with help from his wheelchair bound Captain. Anything to help his favorite navigator, Jim is quite agreeable. Don't own them.**

Captain James Tiberius Kirk was actually a very patient individual. He'd sat through McCoy's drunken rages at bars without drinking a drop. Someone had to drive them back to the campus, evidently, it was his turn. He'd patiently listened to each member of his crew during the Narada incident to formulate the best plan possible. He'd even patiently listened to crew members who felt they had been unfairly passed over for promotion.

Unfortunately, right now, he had little patience for his body. It, unfortunately, let him know at inopportune times that he needed to sit down. Well, that was better than sudden naps, but the wheelchair was on the other side of the office, and he really needed to get down to see McCoy for his next check-up. McCoy was weaning him off the medication and he hoped he could stop another drug today. Jim sighed as he was about to hit the button for his secretary to get the chair when the door to his office burst open with a certain over-excited Ensign babbling in Russian.

"Captain! The Engineers hawe accepted my redesign of the matter/antimatter flux for the varp core! They vant me to come explain it to them!" Chekov announced.

"Congratulations, Ensign!" Jim said, genuinely pleased, "When?"

"Now," he replied. "I need your help, Keptin. Can you go vith me in your chair, kind of an emphasis as to vhy the changes are necessary." Kirk quickly got Chekov to bring over the chair and he slid himself into it. Chekov took the handles at the back and took off like a shot. Jim suddenly wondered if he needed a seat belt as they hurtled through Starfleet's headquarters. People hurriedly got out of the way and Kirk did see an amused Admiral or two, or three.

When they reached the chamber a yeoman showed them in. It was actually fun being in this chamber for a different purpose than to get grilled for something that they'd done. Kirk sat back and watched as several engineers entered through a side door. He looked over to see Scotty sitting in the audience with the smile of a proud papa. "Begin, Mr. Chekov," Commander Shavez told him.

"Yes, sir," he began. Kirk smiled as he realized that Chekov had smoothed out his accent and had become extremely professional. "Eight months ago the Enterprise embarked on a mission to Klingon space. During the course of the journey, the ship was knocked out of warp by an engine malfunction. At least at the time we thought it was, it turned out that someone had sabotaged the warp core. The two parts of the core had misaligned and it took the courageous actions of Captain James Kirk to realign the warp core, nearly killing him in the process." Chekov nodded at his Commanding Officer. Jim shifted in his chair, smiling pleasantly at the board.

Jim watched as Chekov expanded on his theories and ideas of the redesign of the warp core, and future warp engines. He even theorized that it was possible to reach "transwarp" speeds that would make current warp drive technology obsolete with such a redesign. Jim nodded in absent understanding of what Chekov was proposing. He was learning something new from his Ensign and wondered what was really going on. This was oddly formal for a simple engine redesign. After he finished, Chekov smiled. They began asking him questions. Finally, they concluded, "Thank you, Ensign. We'll let you know in a few days our decision." Chekov smiled and nodded, knowing that this was what could be expected on a day like this.

Kirk looked at Scotty as Chekov whistled his way down the hall, "Help me to medical, will you. I'm late for an appointment with Bones." Scotty quickly agreed as he was pushed down toward the hospital, "Scotty, what was that about? It kind of reminded of my masters thesis arguments years ago."

Scotty winked at Kirk, "It should, Jim. That's exactly what was goin' on, even though he dinnae know it yet. Tis easier fer him this way. Not so nervous." Kirk laughed as he was wheeled into Bones' office. Bones grumped at him, until Jim told him why he was late. McCoy let go a genuine smile.

"Do you think he'll get it?" McCoy asked as he ran a tricorder over Jim's body.

"I'd give it to him," Kirk responded. McCoy laughed and so did Scotty. "Unfortunately, it's not up to me, or Scotty." They both nodded in agreement.

Three days later Kirk received an e-mail from the Academy, Chekov passed. He asked Chekov and Scotty to meet him in his office. Admiral Archer joined them. "Mr. Chekov, the engineers were impressed by your report on the engines of the Enterprise, and are implementing many of your ideas into the new engines. They are also incorporating it into a new ship, the USS Excelsior, where they will be experimenting with warp drive." Chekov's smile kept getting bigger. Scotty clapped him on the shoulder.

"Furthermore, your report has been accepted as your thesis for a Master's Degree in Engineering. Congratulations, Chekov, you graduate in two weeks." Chekov's mouth worked, but no words emerged as he took in Kirk's words.

Archer reached forward and shook his hand, "Well, I'm not surprised that Enterprise's crew would be an overachieving bunch." Archer said with a chuckle. "Oh, you're being promoted to Lieutenant. It's nice to have happy events after so much sorrow."

Chekov left the building and went outside. His dreams were coming true. Soon, he would join Scotty in the engine room and other parts that were his responsibility. Dreams really occasionally come true.

**Oh, enjoy, Chekov really is too cute!**


	17. Captive Audience

**Captive Audience**

by Starsinger

**This is the same universe as Admirals, only while Pike is still alive, Kirk ain't so dead! lol Pike decides to take advantage of Kirk being in a coma as a captive audience. Don't own any of them.**

Pike rolled into Kirk's room. They had removed the hip immobilizers that day, and he had plans. Kirk was a week out from being dead, and while looking a lot better, he was still in a coma. McCoy emphatically told him that it wouldn't change until the end of the week. He'd gone through surgery to correct broken bones earlier that morning and a cast was on his right arm. Pike looked mournfully at his young friend, "Not lookin' so good, Jimmy," he told the unconscious man. "What you do for your crew. Cadets on the command track seriously need to learn your lesson. Some never do."

Kirk's face had relaxed in the week since coming here. He no longer looked like he was in immense pain. Pike knew that a coma wasn't sleep, but Jim looked like he was doing just that, sleeping. Pike smiled an evil grin, "Move over, son. You and me, we're havin' a little talk." Knowing full well that Kirk wasn't going to cooperate, Pike let down the side rails and manhandled Jim's body, piece by piece, over to the far rails. "You know, I forgot how heavy six feet of solid, unmoving muscle is," Pike continued conversationally as he finished this maneuver. "There, all set," he continued as he leveraged himself into the bed next to Kirk.

Pike lay back and insinuated his arm around Kirk's neck before playing with his hair, "I used to do this with my own son, when he was little. He was sick or had nightmares. I saw Steven yesterday, came in with Mom. It was good to see them. Steven has moved to San Francisco and is getting married in a few months. He'd like you to be there. I told him that it would depend on that grumpy bear you have for a doctor."

Pike sighed, "Jim, a parent should never outlive their children, and I damned near outlived you. You have a death certificate, by the way. It was recorded when they pulled you out of the warp core chamber. You should make a copy of it and put it on your office wall when you get back on board the Enterprise. She's waitin' for you, Jimmy. She's being repaired, just like her captain, and she'll be there when you're both whole and healthy and ready to go."

Pike looked down at his friend, whose head lolled to the side. He reached down and brought Kirk's face up to stare straight at him if his eyes were open. Carefully, Pike pulled back a lid. He watched as the iris reacted to the light and a slight shiver went through the young man's frame. "So, Spock was right, you are still in there. Good to know that this talk isn't going in one ear and out the other. Jim, you're a damn fine captain now. You respect the chair more than I do, frankly. I just wish it didn't take dying for you to do that.

"And about that! I know that Marcus never intended you to survive, or the rest of the Enterprise crew for that matter, but don't depend on your First Officer to do all the thinking. I mean, he's Science, not Command. Okay, it did prove his suitability for the Captain's Chair, but I hope that's not what you were thinking when you pulled that stunt.

"Jimmy, you're going to have to slow down, or you're going to give me a heart attack, and Bones a stroke. You know that's the last thing you need to do. You'll also disappoint a little girl who adores Mr. Captain Jim. You're going to have to come up with a better title when you wake up. Mr. Captain Jim is an awful mouthful for a five year old girl. Come back to us Jimmy, we need you, your crew most of all," Pike struggled with tears. He put his other arm around Jim and rocked back and forth. For a split second Kirk reached up and patted his hand against Pike's arm before dropping it back to the bed.

"Wow, that's the first positive sign I've seen since this whole mess started," McCoy's voice intruded into his thoughts. Startled, Pike looked up. "You set off all sorts of alarms when you got into bed with him. I wasn't prepared to find two heartbeats and two sets of vitals. I suddenly wondered if an act of God had occurred and Jim was pregnant. I was relieved to find you there."

"What's a positive sign?" Pike whispered.

"He patted your arm, that means he's responding to his environment. First time he's done that," McCoy looked at Pike. "You're being released back to San Francisco next week. I asked them to wait until Jim wakes up."

"Thank you, Leonard. Can you just let me be with my boy?"

"Sure, I need to take Joanna down for some lunch anyway. I'll check in later. Your nurses know where you are, so don't worry about them coming to hunt you down." Pike nodded as he lay there with Jim, grateful for this moment and that they were both still alive.


	18. Tribbling Times

**Tribbling Times**

by Starsinger

**Yes, that's right. Trib 1, Trib 2, and Trouble are back, and they have news about a recent cadet that Pike doesn't realize until a scientist walks into his office. No, I have never been owned by a cat. And if you believe that, I have a bridge in New York to sell you, real cheap. Don't own any of them, including that bridge.**

Pike didn't know exactly when he started bringing the infamous trio with him to work, or when Archer decided Porthos needed to make friends. Porthos often ended up in here with him if Archer needed to go off-world, or just off-campus. Porthos was a friendly enough pup, who got along with Trouble and the two Tribs just fine. Pike just let the animals have the run of the office and had a sign to open the door carefully, animals inside.

The Tribbles liked everyone, even Vulcans. Chris had had both Spock and T'Gren in here more than once, and they'd both absently scooped up a tribble and stroked it as it began knocking on a shoe. Trouble took the more direct approach, she jumped into the visitor's lap. She'd often curl up and purr contentedly in their lap. Which was more preferable to Pike's keyboard, PADD, communicator, or any other electronic device that suited her fancy when he was using it.

The Tribbles started acting peculiarly one day when a young, first year engineering cadet came into Pike's office. They started shrieking at him. They did not like the cadet at all. Pike, puzzled, ended up putting them in their carriers and giving them to his yeoman until the cadet left. He had never seen them react that way to ANYONE, not even Admiral Barnett.

One day, the Enterprise swung by to drop off a Klingon scientist and his family, who had transported themselves to the bridge of the ship and asked for asylum. Pike was set to interview them, and asked Jim to come along with McCoy. They had just entered the office when the Tribbles were set off again. This time they were actually attacking the Klingons shoes. The poor man and his family looked down at the tiny creatures and sighed, "As you may have just noticed, Tribbles and Klingons do not get along. We have been hunting them down as they are an ecological hazard, and they seem to take offense to that."

Pike stared at the man, "Wait, did you say they hate **all **Klingons." The man nodded. After the family left Pike asked McCoy and Kirk to stay. He called his Yeoman and asked for her to get that cadet back into his office. Again, the Tribbles reacted violently to his presence.

McCoy took out his ever present tricorder and scanned the young man before looking incredulously at Admiral Pike, "Sir, this man is a Klingon!"

Pike watched the young cadet slump into his chair before calling his yeoman, "Dana, could you get Cadet Saev in here please?" He held up his hand for silence as minutes more passed. A young female cadet entered, Jim was startled, she was Betazoid. Pike nodded at the other cadet. They watched as she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and nothing was appeared to have been said during those long moments. She turned to Pike before nodding once and left. Pike looked at the young man, "Why haven't you asked for asylum?"

"My parents are still in the Klingon Empire," he replied, "I'm afraid if I reveal my presence here, they will be tortured."

"You've lived here most of your life," Pike began.

"I was born a weakling child, and would have been abandoned, but my parents sent me to an old friend here on Earth when I was weeks old. She made sure the necessary alterations to my appearance were made. I had my Starfleet physical done off-world…"

"Son," Pike's voice was gentle. "This will not go past us and the Admiralty, but we really need this information so if you become sick or injured, we can treat you accordingly. Fortunately, one of our ship's doctors has knowledge of your anatomy." The boy looked up, "You won't be able to be blackmailed from this end anyway. Jim, next time your around the Neutral Zone, see if you can't pick up his family." Kirk nodded. The boy was dismissed and hurried away.

Pike sighed as Kirk looked at him, "You're not going to be able to protect him if this comes out." Kirk said.

"I know, that's why getting his family out is important. I'm so glad we have a Betazoid on campus, it would have been that much harder had she not been here. How do you feel about a ship's counselor, Jim? I'm thinking about putting her on the Enterprise when she graduates in May."

"Chris, let me think about it. I'm not sure how I feel about having someone who can read my thoughts on my crew without touching me first." Pike nodded, but knew he'd get his way. Enterprise could use a ship's counselor.


	19. Mysterious Vulcan from Tarsus IV

**Mysterious Vulcan from Tarsus IV **

by Starsinger

**Suggested by ****AlbusSPotter****, Sarek comes to talk to Kirk about Spock's lack of friends and just who that Vulcan was on Tarsus IV. Don't own any of them.**

There was a knock on Jim's apartment door. "Enter," he called absently. Maybe he should think twice about that, the thought crossed his mind. You never know when that might be a reporter. It wasn't, Ambassador Sarek stood outside with two young Vulcans. Jim stopped wiping dishes as he stared, "T'Mera, Sedork?" All the Vulcans entered and spared a passing glance at the spare surroundings. Sarek stopped as his companions approached Jim.

He stood there impassively, not quite sure as to what to do. Finally, they reached out and touched him. They weren't part of the Tarsus 9, they never actually saw Kodos, but they were still victims. Their parents died in the square that night, and they starved along with the rest of the children. When the nights grew cold, Jim had made sure that they were pushed to the center of the mass of children huddled together for warmth. "You really are alive," T'Mera finally whispered. She reached forward and kissed him on the cheek. Even Sarek looked surprised, as intimate as it was for humans, it was even more so for Vulcans. It named him brother.

T'Mera and Sedork had survived the destruction of Vulcan by the simple expedient of having not been on Vulcan. The Vulcan Science Academy had taken a field trip to Alpha Centauri to show the wonders of an aquatic world. Most of the students and faculty had taken that trip, and had to wait as Spock Prime found a suitable world to colonize. It was hard work, building a new world, but they didn't mind. Jim found himself ushering them to the dining room table, and they sat around, talking. T'Mera was studying to be a healer on the new Mt. Seleya. Sedork had married and had a young son

Jim suddenly looked up at Sarek, "You were the Vulcan who rescued me."

Sarek nodded, "T'Mera, Sedork and their parents were cousins. I was sent to help bring them home and help in the rescue efforts. The only reason the children came out of hiding was because I am Vulcan. Understandably, they did not trust humans." Eventually, the younger Vulcans left, promising to keep in touch.

"They're remarkable, Sarek. I'm touched they thought so much of me to come. Thank you, Sarek, I would probably have died if you hadn't shown up when you did. I owe you my life twice over, now."

"Spock," Sarek responded. "He never really had friends. He grew up an outsider because he is half-human."

"Was he bullied?" Kirk asked.

"Yes, one day, he even retaliated, beating one of the boy up even though the other boy was much bigger than he. It was then he questioned why I married Amanda." Sarek's eyes grew distant as he remembered his wife. "You are probably the first male friend he has ever had. He always got along well with women, of any species. His attachment to Uhura is gratifying."

"He told me he went berserk when I died," Kirk said.

"How much do you remember?" Sarek asked.

That was a troubling question. He remembered putting his hand up on the glass wall, smiling, and then everything went black. "I don't remember being dead. I remember hearing voices and drifting in a sea of blackness. I remember you and Spock Prime trying to reach me. That was my first inkling that I wasn't dead. It's all a haze, Sarek. None of it seemed real."

"What about Tarsus?" Sarek asked.

A different pain flickered across Kirk's face, "I was determined to keep everyone alive, it didn't matter whether or not they were human. Everyone who lived was giving Kodos a black eye. So many dead and nothing that could be done to save them." Jim's blue eyes seemed lost in the not so distant past.

"I tried to find you after we'd gathered the children together. They'd already transported you to a ship headed for Earth," Sarek said. He was quietly unhappy about that whole thing. "Then, you disappeared."

"Well, the only name anyone really knew for me was as JT. I did a lot of things after leaving Tarsus IV, including getting arrested." Jim reached over and picked up his PADD. "Ambassador, during my misspent youth, I worked on a project that was a grain designed to resist most famine and other natural occurrences that produces famine. I started it on Tarsus IV before the famine. I don't want credit, I don't need the money. I was wondering if it could be released through the Vulcan Science Academy. People would benefit from this research."

"Quadritritocale," Sarek mused. He looked over the specifications of the plant and nodded his head, "Yes, I think it's possible to manage what you want. Are you sure you don't want any proceeds? This could make very wealthy."

"I want the proceeds to go into a fund. First, one for Joanna McCoy, for her college if she doesn't want to go into Starfleet. The second one, a secret, in case I have any children. You never know," he said with a grin. "The last to go to the fund for a memorial to the Tarsus IV tragedy. I don't want this to happen again. Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it."

"That was a wise human who said that," Sarek replied. "I'll keep you updated on the progress. This will take a little while before it becomes a reality. Thank you, Jim. For my son's and cousins' lives. Live Long and Prosper."

Jim smiled, "Peace and Long Life, Sarek."


	20. And the Captain Walks into a Bar

**And the Captain Walks into a Bar**

by Starsinger

**Bones suddenly has two patients to deal with in the first part of this story, and the second part, well, Jim, for some reason, still doesn't realize he's pretty tall. So, I turn on MeTV, and what do I find? Star Trek, and what episode, Space Seed. Wow, they're reading my mind! lol Don't own them.**

Chekov was many things. Young, smart, cute, with an adorable accent, he just wasn't particularly coordinated today. He fell, not once, not twice, but three times walking across the quad from the Academy to the building holding the Administrative staff for Starfleet and the Federation. The first time he sprained his little finger on his right hand. The second time he broke his hand. The third time, on the steps of the Admin building, he broke his leg. Okay, today, he was a klutz.

McCoy was surprised when Admiral Komack called him, "Dr. McCoy, I wouldn't normally call you about another patient, but he's one of yours." McCoy could clearly hear Russian being screamed over Komack's comm. "We're transporting Chekov to you via transporter. Medical is still not repaired here, and we kinda figure you'd rather take care of him yourself."

McCoy looked at Jim who was behaving himself by watching television. "Alright, I'll meet him down in the ER," McCoy replied. McCoy looked up at Jim, "Behave and you'll have a roommate, Jim."

Jim's eyes lit up, "Who?"

"You'll find out soon enough," McCoy replied.

When McCoy returned with Chekov, Jim was missing. One of the nurses told him that Dr. Marcus had stolen him for some time out on the balcony. Chekov was sedated. His finger, arm, and leg all in braces. He wouldn't be here for more than a few days, but it would allow him to be fussed over, and take Jim's mind off what he was going through. It was a light sedation, Chekov didn't have the pain tolerances that Kirk did, and even the pain medicine they had given him hadn't relieved the pain. The Medic on duty finally jabbed him with the sedative so that she could determine his injuries. McCoy didn't entirely blame her.

Jim returned as McCoy was discussing Chekov's care with an Orthopedic Specialist. Kirk waited until McCoy was done, "What happened, Bones?"

"Pavel Chekov proved to be especially clumsy today. He fell three times crossing from one building to another, and he wasn't even drunk." Jim laughed as he maneuvered back into his bed. Chekov started to come around.

"Am I dead?" he mumbled.

"No, Pavel, but you're staying with me for a little while," Jim chuckled. "Nice job, by the way. Give Bones a little challenge since I haven't done anything spectacular in a while, you're his newest pet!" McCoy shook his head as Chekov groaned.

Perhaps it was the three months he'd already spent here, but Kirk was positively cheerful as dinner was served. Unfortunately, since it was the finger on his right hand that was sprained and his left arm that was broken, Chekov ended up having his food cut into small pieces for him so he could eat it easily. Jim, on the other hand, merrily dug into his food with both hands fully functional. For some reason he took great satisfaction that he wasn't the worst hurt in the room. Chekov looked disgruntled, he was young enough to be embarrassed by the whole situation. When his friends came to see him, they did try to cheer him up.

"Look at the bright side," Sulu told him, "you'll be out of here before the Captain!" That earned Sulu a pillow to the back of his head. Jim had good aim. The next day McCoy took Chekov in to have his finger and arm treated. It was painful, and Chekov passed out. McCoy again shook his head, maybe he was a little TOO used to Jim's pain tolerances. At least Chekov was now able to cut his own food. McCoy began to rethink the room policy when the nurses called him complaining about wheelchair races down the halls. Jim again, he could get up to just about anything. The only good thing was Chekov was now laughing.

McCoy just knocked Chekov out the next day so he could fix his leg. Chekov stayed three more days in the hospital and managed to get the message when Admiral Archer sent Jim the following text, in song format, "Star Trekking round the Universe, always going forward 'cause we can't find reverse."*

**Kirk walks into a bar**

The first thing that Spock Prime noticed about this Jim Kirk, after finding him sprawled on the ground, was his height. Spock was not actually used to looking Jim in the eye, but this Jim looked right at him as Spock gave him a hand up. At six feet, he wasn't unusually tall. Both Spock and McCoy were slightly taller than he, but he was tall enough that he had to kneel down to reach some Ambassadors levels. There were times he just sent Keenser in to do the work.

Vulcans and humans were often tall enough that this wasn't required, but there were times that he misjudged his height. The first noticed by more than a few was on the shuttle from Riverside to San Francisco when he walked right into a low hanging bar. More than a few cadets winced at the sound of his head striking metal.

McCoy had learned early on just how tall he was and compensated accordingly. Jim, in Spock Prime thought was a holdover from his previous, shorter life, couldn't quite seem to figure it out. He often forgot to duck. Uhura often found herself putting up signs in low hanging doorways, "Captain, DUCK!"

The most surprising thing was that he was taller than his brother by six inches. When Sam ran away from home, he was taller than Jim. By the time they met up again, and Jim was standing, Jim was looking down at Sam. "Well, my little brother ain't so little anymore!" Sam exclaimed with a laugh.

When Spock, Kirk, and McCoy were standing next to each other, it gave people pause before they approached them. Especially when they were with the women in their lives, who were a lot shorter than they were. Although Joanna had an excuse, she was only five after all. After their first kiss, Jim had been less reluctant to show her affection, but allowed her to set the pace of how things would go. She was very grateful that he never pressured her into anything she didn't want to do.

One day, Carol and Uhura looked over at the men and found Spock Prime and Saavik standing with them. Saavik wasn't much shorter than the guys and quietly blended in until Carol and Uhura dragged her off. "Why are we so interested in men that tall, anyway?" Carol asked.

"Why not?" Uhura answered with a laugh. "At least they can see what's going on in a crowd!"

***Dr. Dementor strikes again!**


	21. Doodling

**Doodling**

by Starsinger

**Scotty's doodling again. This time, it's a future Enterprise. One that's many, many years from being built, but he can dream, can't he? Don't own them.**

Scotty was in the Rec Room, and he was doodling. His doodling occasionally brought out some insanely crazy ideas, the last time he doodled, he redesigned the replicators to spit out half decent coffee. Another time he doodled, McCoy ended up with a fork stuck up his nose. It wasn't Kirk's fault that time, he was on-duty on the bridge, nowhere near the dishwasher when it…oh, never mind. Yet another time he doodled, Admiral Archer's dog disappeared.

This time his doodling was a fresh new looking starship that he dubbed "Enterprise". It was a thing of beauty. The sleek saucer section sloped downwards into a semi-flat surface that rose gracefully into its warp nacelles. The nacelles weren't set up high from the back to give it better propulsion. It was also five times the size of the current Enterprise. Further sketches showed the saucer section separating from the rest of the ship. "Why would you need to do that?" Kirk asked.

"Tis a long range vessel, Jim. She'll be taking families wi' her! When in a dire situation, the families and most of the crew will go into the saucer section where it separates and the remaining section is commanded from a battle bridge. A skeleton crew can run this second part, allowing the saucer section to get away while the rest o' the ship turns to fight whatever menace it faces!"

Kirk shook his head but watched as a shuttle bay came to life. It was enormous, "Wait, a force field that allows shuttles to enter and exit with people in the bay and not having to leave!"

"Tis possible, Captain, just not wi' our current technology." He flipped to another page, "This, ah this, tis a thing o' beauty. Tis the holodeck!" He laid out the plans in front of them deck-by-deck. Classrooms, an arboretum, transporter room, a Sickbay McCoy would drool over, and the engine room, "Allows them to run simulations and close off compartments as needed." He turned over the sketchpad to reveal the bridge. This one was horseshoe shaped. Science and Engineering in the back, tactical built into a long wooden rail that sloped down to the ground where three seats sat in front. "The middle seat is the Captain's, to his left would be his First Officer's, and to his right, whoever needs to sit there."

Scotty could already see Jim drooling. "Warp 9.5 maximum sustained speed?"

"Aye, we'd need a better matrix than the dilithium crystals, though. They're far too fragile," Scotty continued to wax enthusiastic about the design for the rest of the day.

_Eighty years later, USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D_

Kirk and McCoy stood on the bridge of the Enterprise. They looked around, seeing Scotty's vision come to life. Although the Klingon staring at them was a little disconcerting. "I still say Scotty should have come with us," Bones muttered. Jim laughed as he ran his hands over the Engineering console. A man with gold-tinted skin and yellow eyes escorted them into the turbolift. He showed them Sickbay, Engineering, and even the Holodeck.

"She's a good looking ship, Mr. Data," McCoy commented. "Got the right name, Enterprise." Kirk agreed, even after learning Data was an android. He silently wondered how he would learn and grow. "Treat her like a lady, and she'll always bring you home."


	22. New Vulcan

**New Vulcan**

by Starsinger

**Okay, you probably have figured out that the picture I've posted with this story is Enterprise NCC 1701-D. It is the Galaxy Class starship of Star Trek: the Next Generation. The ship that Scotty doodled into his dreams. It was a thing of beauty. Was, you ask? Well, it kind of met its demise toward the end of the movie Star Trek: Generations. Warp core overload, saucer separated from the rest of the ship and crashed into the planet while the rest of the ship blew up. Sigh. It did last seven seasons and most of one movie! lol The crew stop by New Vulcan during their five year mission and Kirk has a talk with Spock Prime about "universe ending paradoxes". Suggested by ****HappytheExceed****. Don't own them.**

Oh, it was hot. They'd fled a hot and arid planet that became a black hole only to find another hot and arid planet with an equally thin atmosphere. Jim tugged on the collar of his gold shirt uncomfortably. Fortunately, he'd obeyed McCoy's not so subtle hints about using a triox compound before going down the surface. Spock and Uhura were visiting Sarek. Many crew members were out touring the planet and the settlement. It was nice to visit a planet whose inhabitants weren't hostile, cool, but not hostile.

Saavik opened the door and looked at him coolly, nodding her head. Her eyes held a warmth that bespoke recognition and friendship. She nodded and bade him enter. He followed her through to the living area where she offered him water and her husband, Spock, joined them. "Universe ending paradoxes?" Jim asked. Spock looked at him, "You lied."

"I…exaggerated," he replied.

"You lied," Saavik said shaking her head. "You've done it before."

Kirk looked at her in surprise, "He has?"

"I told you once that you can't spend a century or more with another species without picking up some of their habits. I'm not afraid of admitting I've lied, but then again, I am half-Romulan."

Spock actually chuckled, it was a dry sound, something he was obviously unused to doing, "Alright, I lied, at least twice. Betazoids are probably the only species actually incapable of lying. Being full telepaths makes that hard to hold up. Vulcans, on the other hand, are only touch telepaths. We cannot actually tell when someone tells an untruth unless we touch them. You, Jim, have the ability to tell a lie rather quickly. You even have the best poker face available. Only a Betazoid can read you, and no one actually invites them to that party." Jim chuckled. He could see why he became friends with the man.

"Spock, thank you, every time we meet, I see the man I could come to admire and like," he paused. "When we met you said 'I have been, and always shall be your friend'. That has come to mean more and more as the days and months pass. Thank you, my friend. Live Long and Prosper."

"Peace and Long Life, my friend," Saavik leaned her head on her husband's shoulder and saw an echo of a previous life.


	23. Jim in Sickbay

**Jim in Sickbay**

by Starsinger

**Suggested by ****1nvisible****, Jim gets sick, and when Jim gets sick, which doesn't happen very often, he REALLY gets sick. Don't own any of them.**

Spock turned as he heard an explosive sneeze sound from the other side of Sickbay. The man was clearly suffering, and there wasn't really anything anybody could do about it, "How is he, Doctor?"

"How do dink I ab, Spock?" Jim asked, trying to sound sarcastic. He fell way short eliciting a laugh from the nurses.

"Well, Spock, he has the flu," McCoy said.

"I thought he was inoculated against it," Spock replied.

"So was everyone else on board, Spock. Unfortunately, what he was inoculated for and what he got are two different thing. They winced as another sneeze reverberated through the room. McCoy sighed, "I've put up and isolation field so that no one else is infected. I hate viruses, I don't care how advanced our medicine is, they're difficult to get rid of." They watched sympathetically as Kirk rolled over onto his side and tried to get some sleep. "I'm getting him his own room as soon as M'Benga comes out of surgery. He can't get well if he can't sleep, and he can't sleep with it as bright as it is in here."

"What about the rest of the crew?" Spock asked.

McCoy sighed, "Jim came in as soon as he started coughing and running a fever. Smartest thing I can remember him doing in a while." A loud sniffle could be heard. "Just post a warning, especially to the human members of the crew, if someone suffers so much as a sneeze, they need to come see me." Spock watched as M'Benga soon exited surgery with a crewmember who had suffered a bout of appendicitis, and they conferred. Afterwards, they convinced Jim to stand up and helped guide him to his own room. Spock soon left.

Spock found himself in the Officer's Mess talking to Christopher Pike. "How is he?"

"Very sick, McCoy is worried, and Jim sounds like he has a speech impediment, which is probably due to his stuffy nose." Spock rose an eyebrow as a short burst of laughter issued forth from the admiral, "This is not a laughing matter."

"He'll be better in about a week. That's usually how long it takes to get over the flu," Pike said with a cheerful smile. "That means you're in command, Spock. How does it feel?" Spock really didn't know how to answer that. "As Kirk's first officer, the chain-of-command did fall to him, but Pike was technically higher ranking. "No, Spock, I won't take command unless there's no one else to do it. It's time others took the Captain's chair for some shifts. M'Benga's command qualified." Spock raised an eyebrow, he was not aware of the Doctor's qualifications, "He took the Bridge Officer's Test a few years ago. I gave it to him, that's how I know. Put him on the roster and just let McCoy know."

McCoy blinked at the notice on his PADD, "Geoff," M'Benga's head popped out of Kirk's room, "you've been put on bridge duty, Beta Shift today." M'Benga nodded his head before looking at the clock. "I didn't know you're command rated."

M'Benga grinned, "I took the Bridge Officer's Test three years ago. Made my hair stand on end, but Pike passed me. It'll be good to take command again. If only for eight hours." McCoy blinked, he had never even heard of the Bridge Officer's Test.

"What is this test?" McCoy asked.

"It's a test given to those who weren't command track officers in the Academy. It gives real life scenarios, none of them no-win scenarios, I might add. They don't actually want to scare people away from taking the test." M'Benga grinned as he walked to his desk to write his notes up for the various patients currently in Sickbay.

McCoy walked into Jim's room, the lights were dim, but he could hear Jim sigh, "Whad is id, Bodes?" Kirk asked. McCoy winced, Jim really did sound awful.

"Geoff, how is it he's command rated?" McCoy asked irritably.

"He dook the sdeps to do id," Kirk responded. "He asked Pike, and Pike gabe him de desd."

"I'll be back to check on you later," McCoy responded. He left Jim to sleep as he pondered why one of his doctors could do this thing and he wouldn't

**Well, this tale is being told in "Bridge Officer's Test", so I'm not going to go back over it. I'm breaking this up so people can put their feedback here (insert reviews here)! lol **


	24. Cerberus

**Cerberus**

by Starsinger

**No, this isn't about Joanna's time on Cerberus, it's about the aftermath. McCoy's desperately needing to help his little girl and turns to the two people who can help her. They stop by New Vulcan to pick up a third who also understands. Don't own them.**

McCoy watched as Joanna disconsolately picked at her food. She was slowly gaining back the weight she'd lost during the famine, but it was an uphill fight, and she didn't want to go back to her mother. She wanted to stay on the Enterprise. Heartbroken, Jocelyn had given McCoy custody of the girl and withdrew. She blamed herself for what happened to Jo, and McCoy was in no mood to forgive her, neither was their daughter.

McCoy watched as she cut her food into small portions and slowly ate her way through it. She had to be reminded to eat, and she had to be reminded that she didn't need to hide her food, no one was going to take it away from her. She had hidden in dark corners and closets for close to three weeks before feeling secure enough to come out and eat with her father. McCoy was desperate. He turned to Kirk and Spock for help. "Jim, you know what she's going through, can you help?"

Jim nodded, "I think, maybe, we should stop by New Vulcan, there's someone else who exhibited this behavior until recently, and she's more Jo's age." Spock nodded his approval as they set out to plan.

Jo sat in the Officer's Mess, trying to eat again, as she heard a familiar voice, "Hey, Jo, mind if we join you?" She glanced up, startled to find Uncle Jim, Kevin Riley, a Vulcan girl she didn't recognize. The girl looked to be her own age. Jo nodded. "Good," Jim said plopping down into the seat next to her, "I don't know about you, but I don't like eating standing up." Joanna gave a small, tight smile. "Jo, this is Saavik. She's a friend of your Uncle Spock and Uncle Sarek." Saavik nodded at Jo.

Jo spent long minutes eating her food when she suddenly noticed that all three of her companions exhibited similar habits. They cut their food into small bites, then chewed very slowly before swallowing. They also wore watches around their left wrists. "How…why are you copying me?" Jo asked stricken.

Jim sighed, "Jo, you've studied history, right." Jo nodded, "Remember the bit about Tarsus IV?" Jo stared at her Uncle Jim, "Kev and I are survivors of Tarsus IV. In fact, Kev is a member of the Tarsus 9." Kirk conveniently omitted that so was he, but he didn't feel she needed to know that right now. "While Saavik's ordeal was different, she also suffered from starvation."

"I was born on Hellguard," Saavik said. "I am half-Vulcan and half-Romulan. We were the results of a failed experiment and were abandoned as children to fend for ourselves. Hellguard is not a good planet to grow up, and it was hard to find and keep food." Saavik said it simply, absently pushing a stray curl behind a pointed ear.

"You mean someone deliberately let you starve?" Jo blurted out.

"Worse, Jo, Kevin, our families, and I were on Kodos' extermination list. We should have died. Kev was in the square and can identify Kodos if he was ever found." Kevin glanced at him quizzically, Kirk shook his head. "If it weren't for the brave actions of one boy, JT, we would all have died."

"Did JT die?" Jo asked.

"No," Kevin answered. "He's still alive. He wishes to remain anonymous, fearing retaliation if Kodos is found. Kodos was very angry at him for successfully managing to keep us alive. There were thirty of us who finally walked out alive. Thirty children for the four thousand sentenced to die."

Jo sat, deep in thought, "Does it get easier?" she finally asked.

"You know that point when you were so hungry you finally stopped feeling that hunger?" Jim asked. Jo nodded, "It's kind of like that. It's not really easier, you just get used to it. We spent so long fighting to stay alive that we didn't know how to stop. It took a Vulcan, Ambassador Sarek as a matter of fact, to get us to come out and trust the Starfleet personnel who were with him. All we knew was that humans had tried to hurt us, and he wasn't human."

"He was so very gentle with us. He had cousins on Tarsus IV, you see, he wanted to see to their safety and well-being. JT saved their children as well," Kevin said. Jo blanched at the thought that even aliens weren't safe from Kodos' reign of terror.

"Anyway, Jo," Kirk continued, "you see these watches we're all sporting?" Jo nodded. "Mr. Scott and Mr. Spock made these especially for us. They go off at specific intervals to remind us to eat. Because we do forget to eat, and I fear, so will you." He handed Jo another watch. She swallowed and slipped it on, thanking her Uncle Jim as she did. They continued to eat, taking the better part of the lunch hour to finish. She later talked to Saavik about her experiences. The young Vulcan assured her hiding her food was normal, and it would get easier, just give it time. Saavik left her a number where she could be reached if she wanted to talk. Jo knew she'd made a strange, new friend. She also appreciated that she was no longer alone.

_Years Later…_

Jo watched as Saavik held young Sopher in her arms. Named for the late Christopher Pike, the baby had a calm disposition, and was beautiful beyond words. Jo and Saavik had remained in touch over the years, and Saavik had attended her wedding, and sent presents on the births of her four children. While Jo had been there for Saavik's betrothal with her father, the wedding had been so abrupt that she hadn't made it.

Babies had their own agenda, Jo knew. Saavik looked up and nodded before handing the infant off to Jo. Jo smiled at the sleeping baby, it had been years since even her grandchildren had been this small. She had promised each of them that they wouldn't have to suffer what happened to her and her Uncle Jim many years ago. She looked up across the family living room as her father and Uncle Jim got into yet another squabble.

"Some things never change," Saavik said with understanding. Jo nodded, this was the perfect ending to a perfect day.


	25. Enterprise's Two Dads

**Enterprise's Two Dads**

by Starsinger

**Joanna McCoy and Demora Sulu meet, and the crew of the Enterprise meet Sulu's daughter. Need something a little more light-hearted after "Race for Sickbay". Set during "A Long Road", so Pike isn't alive. Don't own them.**

Uhura looked across the Academy's campus to see Kirk wheeling his way across the lawn. She shook her head, he'd worn himself out again, otherwise he'd be walking. Soon, she realized that a little girl sat in his lap as he talked to her. She got closer, wondering when Joanna had returned when she realized that this wasn't Jo. She stopped and smiled, "Well, who is this? Are you being kidnapped as a babysitter again, Jim?"

The little girl, who looked to be about Jo's age, grinned up at Uhura, "Nyota, this is Demora Sulu. Hikaru and his ex have some things to discuss, and asked me to look after her. We're on our way to see Bones, who has Jo, today. Joce is in town. Would you like to join us?"

Demora nodded at Uhura, "Alright, it'll be good to see Jo again." She walked with Jim as Demora started talking. She was just as outgoing as her father and happy to make friends. They collected people on their way to Starfleet Medical. Chekov, having met Demora before when he and Sulu were roommates in their Academy years, the little girl held out her arms and gave Uncle Pasha a hug.

Scotty joined them and was surprised, "Is nae Sulu…" he trailed off.

Jim nodded, "He got married young, it was what was expected. His ex was the one who suggested that he didn't like women like that. They've remained friends, and Demora lives here in San Francisco, don't you, Sweetheart?"

"Yes, Uncle Jim," she answered. Spock was the last to join them having been looking for Uhura.

They arrived at McCoy's office where McCoy looked up from playing with Jo to find the welcome distraction. Jo looked at Demora curiously before getting up and walking over to her, "Hi, my name is Jo. What's yours?"

"Demora," the other little girl replied.

"Wanna play?" Demora grinned at Jo's question and scampered off Jim's lap and over to a corner where they played a game that they seemed to be making up as they went along.

McCoy looked up at the rest with a raised eyebrow, "Sulu's little girl," Jim replied. He watched as Jo displayed social skills that he often lacked. "I'm here for that check-up," Jim said. "I seem to be everybody's favorite babysitter."

McCoy grabbed his equipment and attached a sensor to Kirk's head while running a tricorder over the rest of Jim's body. "Still going to Physical Therapy?" he asked. He knew the answer to that. He received weekly reports on Jim's progress. Jim nodded. "Well, at least you're learning to listen to your body now," McCoy commented. "You're progressing steadily, Jim, and I believe you'll be more than ready to set out when the Enterprise is ready."

Kirk sighed in relief, "That's good to know."

McCoy smiled at his younger friend, "Hey, we want you on that ship as much as you want to be there. We've still got three months to go. I think you'll be ready well before the Enterprise is." He looked up to find Sulu standing in the doorway smiling at the girls.

"Daddy!" Demora squealed and ran over to Hikaru.

Sulu laughed, "You'd think she hadn't seen me a couple of hours ago!" He scooped her up. Jo walked over to her own father who picked her up. McCoy was taller than Sulu, but that didn't stop the girls from grinning at each other.

"Okay," Jim announced. "I need to take a picture of this. Get together you two. Enterprise's two dads!" Jim picked up his PADD and snapped a couple of shots. He sent the pictures to Sulu, McCoy and their exes. Later, he received thank yous from both women. When the Enterprise set out on her five year mission, many pictures of families left behind decorated both the lounge and the rec room. This one was printed out large and prominently displayed so everyone walking into the lounge as Sulu's and McCoy's smiles lit up the room.


	26. Entrance Exam II

**Entrance Exam II**

by Starsinger

**Suggested by ****ans90jas10****.** **Pike's heard about it, Spock and Sarek know about it, now Starfleet Command is hearing about it. Don't own them.**

"HE DID WHAT?!" could be heard from Admiral Barnett's office. This had to be the craziest thing he'd heard Jim Kirk ever doing in his life.

Archer nodded his head, "He passed the Entrance Exam to the Vulcan Science Academy."

For one of the many times since Kirk entered the Academy, Barnett was left speechless, "How? Who?"

"Sarek, as an 'experiment', administered the test, and Kirk passed it, in Vulcan," Archer said.

A slow grin scrawled over Barnett's face, "I bet the Vulcan High Command was astounded."

"That's one way of putting it," Archer replied with a grin. "Want to go see him?"

Jim, when they entered, was watching a movie and eating popcorn. He looked up to see the two Admirals enter his room, and he eyed them speculatively. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?" Jim asked. "I haven't been able to get into trouble since I moved into this hospital."

"Kirk, with you, trouble is never far behind," Barnett replied with a snort. "So, about Vulcan, is there something you want to tell us?"

"Is that a not so subtle hint that you know about my getting into the VSA?" Jim asked. Archer cackled while Barnett started laughing, "Oh, geez, Old Man Murphy strikes again!" Archer and Barnett laughed even harder. Jim proceeded to tell them about the exam, including the first question.

Archer shook his head, "I wouldn't even have done half so well. Well, congratulations, Jim, we're going to have find some way of getting you over there to attend. Maybe after your five year mission, they'll have plenty of time to have rebuilt it by then." Jim sighed, resignedly. "You really are too smart for your own good!" Jim sighed, it really had been a challenge, but, maybe he should have fudged on that test. Too late now…


	27. Kirk and the Neurology Students

**Kirk and the Neurology Students**

by Starsinger

**Takes place during Two Weeks of Hell, which means Pike isn't alive, sorry. Dr. Brad Bateman, the neurologist, has pestered McCoy into letting his neurology students watch as Kirk slowly comes out of the coma. That means letting them visit every day, and some of their reactions to what Jim does actually make McCoy smile. No one ever said his best friend was normal! lol Don't own any of them.**

McCoy shook his head, he wasn't sure what any of them were in for, but Dr. Bateman had asked oh so nicely. He had seven neurology students coming through the Starfleet Academy, and, since much of that hospital now lay in ruins, he was wafting them through Zurich to study some of the patients in the ICU. Kirk, miracle man still alive, was on the top of his list.

"Alright, everybody, the last patient we're going to see today, and the one on whom you'll right a case study at the end of the semester, is Captain James Tiberius Kirk, USS Enterprise. He is currently in an induced coma after having died going into the warp core chamber of aforementioned ship. The drug McCoy injected him with is experimental, and what will be done with it will be determined at a later date. In spite of all that, we expect him to come out of the coma fully intact. Dr. McCoy is slowly backing off the medication every day, and he will begin to respond to his environment as the days go on until he wakes up."

Bateman pulled out his PADD, "If you look at your PADD you will find his brain scans from when he was admitted to the hospital. He was on full life support. He's currently on no life support, and has stopped trying to die. That doesn't mean he looks good, he's very ill, so be prepared when we enter the room." As they entered the students weren't totally prepared for it. Jim was just out of surgery and his arm was in a mobilizer. He was still a light yellow color, but some of his obvious wounds hadn't quite healed.

"I want you to direct your attention to the monitor at his bedside. As you can see, his neurological scans have improved considerably since he first came here," they all nodded, obediently. McCoy, sitting in the chair to Jim's right writing notes in Jim's chart, barely contains a snort. He had an idea of where Brad was taking this, but Jim was the one who'd make this interesting. He watched as the students asked questions, and even answered a few himself, and they left. Brad reentered the room, "So, what do you think?"

"I think we'll be lucky if Jim doesn't 'accidentally grope' one of the girls," McCoy said with a laugh. Jim's little finger twitched, "Huh, he's letting us know he's in there already." Bateman shook his head and left the room.

The next day they all trouped in to the room and dutifully noticed the pick-up of brain activity as the Captain crept closer to consciousness. They also noticed the splint had been removed from his arm. "Tomorrow, Kirk will be going in for another surgery to repair internal damage not caused by the radiation. So, we'll be visiting in the afternoon instead of the morning. They all watched as Jim's entire arm twitched in the general direction of Dr. Bateman's voice.

"Can he hear us?" one of the girls asked.

McCoy laughed, "This is what we meant about him responding to his environment. Jim's unpredictable, I honestly know what he'll do during the course of the week." Jim's arm twitched again. They laughed, nervously. This man was already a legend and a hero. Nobody told them that he liked the ladies. As the week went on they watched as Jim's head started turning to their voices. On the twelfth day, there was a definite whack as one of the women walked by. She turned around looking for whoever the culprit was who slapped her ass, and only found Kirk, still lying in the bed, all offending appendages lying docilely on the mattress. McCoy managed to wait until the lady left the room before he sat down and started laughing. "Jim, some things never change," he said breathlessly.

The day before Jim awoke one of the students stayed behind, "Dr. McCoy, may I ask you something?" McCoy nodded his head. "What's so special about Captain Kirk? What made you and everyone else on the Enterprise go to such extraordinary lengths to save his life?"

"Are you also a Psychiatry student?" the girl nodded. They both watched as Jim reached out an arm and grasped McCoy's arm briefly. McCoy sighed, "He's charming, good looking, and has this boyish personality that wants to make you protect him. What is it? When he's your friend, he's got your back. He begged for the lives of his crew while facing Admiral Asshole, then he turned around and apologized when he realized that it wouldn't work. He alienated his chief engineer, only to call on Scotty and ask him to go to some coordinates. If he hadn't, well, we'd all be dead now, and Admiral Marcus would have his war. What inspires that kind of loyalty, I don't know. Maybe you should ask Jim when he wakes up. Although, you actually might want to start with the rest of his crew. Jim's not going to be up for long interviews." She nodded as she left the room. McCoy knew that this wasn't over, she'd be back.


	28. Classes

**Classes**

by Starsinger

**Kirk needs to talk to someone about some classes he's been scheduled for. Don't own any of them.**

McCoy looked at Kirk completely baffled, "What do you mean, you don't need these classes? Every first year cadet has to take them!"

Kirk sighed, "They're Introduction to Physics and Introduction to Engineering, I could do both classes without ever showing up."

"Would you care to enlighten me as to why?" McCoy asked, sarcastically.

"I have Masters Degrees from the University of Moscow in both Theoretical Physics and Engineering. Does it sound like I need an introductory course in both subjects?" Kirk asked, equally sarcastic.

McCoy stopped, dumbfounded, "Well, we could start a study group." Kirk stopped and looked at his new roommate, and then started laughing, he couldn't help it, but still went to the guidance counselors at the Academy.

"I'm sure you think you know about these subjects, _Cadet_, but I assure you, these classes are completely different," Counselor Boehner drawled.

"Counselor, I saw the first chapter. My Master's Thesis is more in depth than this, not that you'd understand it if you read it. I don't need these classes."

"They're just science and engineering, Cadet, nothing important. Take them, you'll find them challenging." The man was so condescending that Jim wanted to stick his foot up his ass. _How_ could science and engineering not be important, especially in _Starfleet_!

The first day of classes and Jim and Bones found themselves in the Engineering class. Bones had heard horror stories about the instructor and had devoured the first five chapters of the book over the weekend. Jim hadn't even touched them, instead, concentrating on Introduction to Tactics. "Good morning, class, I'm Commander Ilch, I'm your instructor for this class." She went through the syllabus and what was expected of them. Finally, she looked up, "Okay, let's see how many of you have actually looked at the book," she fired the first question at McCoy, whose mind went blank. He had read it just the day before and couldn't remember a damn thing.

Ilch kept throwing questions at various people who also looked at her with horror filled expressions. Finally, she landed on Kirk, who looked bored. "Cadet Kirk, can you answer the question?" Jim did, he also expounded on the subject matter at hand, gave four different theories on the matter, and closed his mouth. Ilch looked at him, "Cadet, see me after class."

Curious, McCoy hung around after class, "Cadet, what are you doing in my class?"

"Professor, I tried to get out of it, I really did, but Counselor Boehner felt it best that I attend," and Jim proceeded to tell her his qualifications in this arena.

Ilch's mouth hit the floor, "I'm going to check up on your qualifications, meanwhile, could you help some of the other students catch up on what they need to know?"

Jim agreed. A very similar scene played out in Engineering. Professor Deblu watched as Kirk explained exactly why intership transport was not safely possible at this time. Their talk after class almost exactly mirrored the one outside of Physics. Jim finally left both classes and trudged after McCoy, their next class was Ethics, the last one they had together, and that opened with Tarsus IV. Jim closed his eyes, this was not going to be a very good week.

At the end of the week Jim was called before Admiral Barnett and Captain Pike. The meeting was short and succinct, "Jim, we're pulling you out of Engineering and Physics, although Ilch would like to keep you as a TA. How do you feel about learning Klingon?"

**Yes, that Boehner. Certain people have no idea what real science is, and he represents a strong part of the population that is just that clueless. So, I couldn't resist poking fun at him. Please read and review.**


	29. Duel

**Duel**

by Starsinger

**Bones has seen Kirk fight hand-to-hand, and seen just how fast he can move unencumbered. So, he challenges Spock and Kirk to a face off, just to see what Kirk can do in a fair fight, without pesky furniture in the way. Don't own any of them.**

Jim looked at McCoy with a raised eyebrow. Jim swore McCoy had scary eyebrows, but McCoy swore that he had nothing on Jim. "Bones, why am I doing this?"

It had been three years since both epic fights on the bridge over the Narada, and a year since they started their five year mission, and now Bones decided to see what would happen if Kirk and Spock faced off against each other without body armor or furniture in the way. Spock also looked at McCoy questioningly. "Okay, gentlemen, I've seen you both fight each other, and other people, but Kirk, I've seen you move so fast it would make a Vulcan's head spin. I'd just like to see what an exercise between the two of you would look like." Uhura looked at McCoy like he was crazy. Scotty, Sulu and Chekov grinned at each other thinking this would be fun. Keenser scooted around the edges taking bets on who would win.

Jim shook his head. He watched as Spock circled around him, and closed his eyes. Sometimes, during similar exercises at the Academy, he'd do just this, shutting out the rest of the room except his opponent. It helped him focus, and had come in handy on moonless nights on Tarsus IV, survival and all. He heard Spock throw the first punch and blocked it easily with his arm, and waited. A swift move from the other side towards his legs had him dodging out of the way. Peripherally he was aware of the murmuring, but it never broke his concentration. Finally, he opened his eyes and stared Spock down.

The first blow he landed to Spock's right arm came so quickly that Spock barely had time to react. Spock hadn't realized just how battle honed Jim's senses really were. Jim had scored three hits before Spock was able to take stock of what was really going on. They both remained silent as the world narrowed and focused on each other. Spock moved in, his skill and speed hopefully a match for Jim's own.

McCoy watched as the match continued. Both opponents were fairly equally matched. Kirk had swiftness while Spock had strength. They both would end up with bruises the next day. Neither gave ground as the match continued. Finally, Spock attempted a quick round house kick that had Kirk up in the air landing a foot in the other man's shoulder causing him to tumble to the ground. Spock never got a chance to apply his superior strength. Jim grinned down at Spock, "Well, that's the first fight I've ever beaten you in."

"I get the feeling you weren't even trying the first two times," Spock responded.

"I didn't want to hurt you, my friend."


	30. Up to My Ears in Tribbles

** Up to My Ears in Tribbles**

by Starsinger

**Suggested by Silver-Shadowspark, I'm bringing back Trouble, Trib 1 and Trib 2. Don't own any of them.**

Jo sat on the chair, absolutely certain, as certain as any five year old could be, something moved on the floor beneath Uncle Jim's hospital bed. There it was again. She quietly slipped out of the chair and moved toward the bed. Even as quietly as she moved, the kitten exploded out from under the bed and scampered across the room to hide behind a table.

Jo cocked her head at the tiny cat. Then, she saw it again. Movement again caught her eye. Again, she looked under the bed to find two, small, round furry things that didn't appear to have any eyes stopped at the edge of the bed. She reached out and touched one with a finger. It cooed at her and rubbed its head? against said finger. She reached out and plucked it out from under the bed. The other fuzzy forgotten. When she petted it, it purred or cooed. When she poked it, it squealed, but mostly it purred.

Jo felt something push against her foot and saw the other fuzzy bumping up against her foot. She reached down and picked it up and then joined a sleeping Uncle Jim in bed. Soon, the cat joined them, all resting comfortably in her lap. McCoy soon joined her, "Daddy," she asked in her devastating little girl voice, "what are these?"

"Well, the kitten is Trouble, and the two round fuzzy things are Tribbles, Trib 1 and Trib 2. They're Uncle Chris' pets," McCoy answered absently.

"Can I have one, pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase?"


	31. Xenolinguistics

**Xenolinguistics**

by Starsinger

**Suggested by Lady Cooper. There's a hot debate going on in the Academy's cafeteria between Communications track students, and several of the top Xenolinguistics experts are in on it, including Spock, Uhura and Kirk. Sorry about the German jab. I once performed a song in German in choir, if you were unfortunate enough to be on the first row, you got another shower. Don't own any of them.**

"I realize that the Universal Translators are wonderful pieces of technology, but they're very limited," one cadet ranted. "You have to open up your communicator and hope to hell that it works!"

"What if it goes down, or there's an ion storm. This technology is subject to every possible problem out there," another cadet suggested.

"Well," Uhura leaned back in her chair. "There's also the question of dialects. Often, English being an excellent example of it, there are nuances in a language that is only explained by dialects. Different words in the English language often different meanings depending on where you go. In the United States, for instance, a 'fag' is a euphemism for someone who is gay, usually male. In England, however, it's often used to refer to a cigarette."

"Gay has a double meaning also," Spock came in. "Gay once meant happy, in the twentieth century it became synonymous with homosexuality."

"There are species out there whose dialects are so different they should be different languages," Kirk chimed in. "Romulan, for example, has three dialect. Romulan, the one we're all familiar with which is and outward stem of Vulcan. Reman, which comes from their sister planet of Remus, and is a variation on Vulcan as well. And Rihannsu, which stems from the language of the native people of Romulus when the Romulans first landed there. It's considered a dialect, but if you've ever listened to it, it might as well be another language."

"Then there are languages like Klingon. It reminds me of German. If you don't produce enough spit, you're not saying it right," one Andorian female pointed out.

"Oh, don't forget about the importance of body language," Spock pointed out. "If you're not aggressive when speaking in Klingon, you're considered weak and will be shouted down."

Admirals Komack and Archer were standing to the side watching this debate, "How did this all start?"

"One of the Klingon scientists that defected wanted to put on a Shakespearean play. Macbeth, in the original 'Klingon'."


End file.
